Sunday, April 18, 1999
That slip of paper on car may be friendly tip, not ticket
Police: Break-ins rise with mercury
BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati police officers are tucking something other than tickets between windshields and wipers.
They are warnings alerting drivers that they've left something visible in their cars that may invite a criminal.
A seasonal surge in car break-ins has put a Cincinnati police task force into action in an attempt to stop the thieves.
“The first good weather we have, we tend to have more car break-ins,” police spokesman Lt. Roger Wolf said. “It's just a crime of opportunity.”
Most of Cincinnati's 53 neighborhoods saw a decrease in thefts from cars in the first three months of this year compared with the same time last year.
But thefts from cars jumped in Avondale, Clifton, English Woods, Hartwell, Kennedy Heights, Millvale, Mount Adams, North Fairmount, Paddock Hills and Westwood.
The most popular area for car break-ins is downtown. From January through last week, 210 people had their cars broken into in downtown parking areas. According to police records, most thefts happen during working hours on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The Over-the-Rhine neighborhood comes in next with 103 reports of car break-ins in the same time period. The thefts usually happened on weekend nights around bar areas such as Main Street's entertainment district.
The West End also had a large number of break-ins, with 64 reported in the first few months of this year.
“It's out of control,” said Detective Patrick Galligan, a District 1 officer investigating car break-ins.
No matter how many times police warn people, drivers still leave cell phones, laptop computers and briefcases visible in their cars, he said.
“If you've left something in your car, we can see it,” he said. “And if we can see it, the bad guy can see it.”
Last year's victims included some high-profile downtown drivers: Former Police Chief Michael Snowden and City Manager John Shirey. Both had their cell phones stolen.
Police created a task force this spring to get a handle on thefts from cars before the summer season, which typical ly has more of those crimes.
The division is assigning more officers to investigate thefts from cars and concentrating on taking fingerprints off cars following break-ins and tracking what happens to the property. Some computers, for example, end up in pawn shops.
“Don't leave anything in your car,” Detective Galligan said. “The best defense is to keep your car clean. Don't leave change in the ashtray. It may be only 40 or 50 cents, but it's not worth a $150 window.”
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