"We observed an increase in vehicle break-ins in a focused area starting in early April. We responded by putting out information to all the shift officers to be aware," said Captain Bill Galvin, head of District "D".
In one district alone, there were over 42 vehicle break-ins in April. That dropped when unmarked police cars and plain clothes officers were placed around the area. But break-ins started to increase when the officers left. So, police used a "bait vehicle" that was left unlocked.
We put some items in there that we knew the thieves were looking for, set up a couple of stakeout cars. Within two-hours, we had some individuals enter that vehicle and steal those items," said Captain Galvin. "And a search of one of their homes revealed a lot of items that we believe had been stolen from other vehicles," he added.
By June, auto break-ins plummeted from 42 to just two. The successes in drastically reducing car break-ins hasn't ended with the arrests of the suspects in those cases.
"Those have led to two drug arrests. They've led to numerous people being arrested for warrants, outstanding warrants," Captain Galvin said.
Local 5's Terry Kovarik has the story.
