Home invasion advice

[srothstein]

The way a car burglary is handled depends in a large part on the local situation and laws. When I started in San Antonio in the 80's, a car burglary was handled by the patrol officer but a detective (crime scene type) could be requested if the officer thought it would do any good. The problem with checking a car for prints was that car burglars might leave prints on the outside of the car, but most of the inside is not very good for prints. Think about it, they even market household appliances as fingerprint resistant and the car dashboard is made pretty much the same way - rough finish. Lots of cloth ont he inside of most cars also, so again, no prints possible. And an honest cop would always explain to the victim that the powder could easily ruin the inside of the car since it was designed to stick to surfaces. High damage potential plus low chance of doing any good equals no real reason for printing things.

But you might not have noticed the other part I mentioned. The elements of car burglary require proving the criminal went inside the car. But he mostly leaves the prints on the outside. The Bexar DA would not accept the outside prints for evidence, even if it was from someone from across town inside a gated community. You would have to prove the prints were made at that scene, not somewhere else also.

Then when I worked in Luling, a slightly more rural community, the Caldwell DA would take the prints as clear cut evidence and the jury would usually convict if it got that far. All the police would have to do would be document asking the suspect if he had ever been near the car for some other reason.

But, Luling also had a lot fewer car burglaries (unlike the Suburban in Houston that was mentioned). So the police, DA, and the community saw it as a more serious offense. That is another part of the local situation you need to take into account. And the final part, especially when comparing other states to us, is what the penalty for the crime was. Way back, car burglary was a third degree felony in Texas. Then it became a class A misdemeanor and now it is a state jail felony. Police responses have certainly changed based on whether they were handling a real felony, a misdemeanor, or that weird cross between the two called a state jail felony.

[RttlTrap]

When my Jeep was broken into in Hayward CA, the local PD came with crime scene van and did the prints.

All good advices on this board.

That's interesting. when my truck was broken into, I asked the PD about doing prints, and was told that they do not print vehicles just for burglary. I forget the exact reason, something about too many prints from people who are supposed to be there, or overlaying prints that they cannot get a good ID on.

When my Suburban was broken into, I expected the LEO to do the same thing....look for prints, question neighbors in the complex (gated with 24/7 guard). He just looked at me and asked if I knew how many Suburbans were broken into every day in Houston...it was a rhetorical question.

At least they came out. Last time it happened to us in Austin they didn't even send anyone.

[Millerk420]

This is all almost resolved. They have recovered almost 90% of there items.

I kind of forgot that the son of the DA plays on this guys baseball team, and the next day the REAL detectives were there.

They knew about the facebook kid and had all the names they are issuing warrants soon. They already arrested a few. One little boy (11) that called the family to turn in some of the other boys got beat up and put in the hospital last night. Before he got beat up he called the father and he and police went over to his house and recovered some items. while there, the gang leader showed up and started getting on to the younger boy about the tagging, and how that is not how they tag (with the police there), and turned out that idiot had warrants outstanding so the police arrested him hahah.

I am glad it is turning around and getting handled. I was just worried because it took the LPD a year to get back to me on some stolen credit cards i had a few years back. i can understand prioritization but they just need to work on communication i think. At least to say, "Hey, it might be a year before we get back to you" i would have been fine with that. When they called honestly a year later i had almost forgotten all about the incident.

The wife still wants to move. I don't blame them. The good thing that came out of this for me is my wife doesn't ask me "WHY are you taking your gun?" now, she says "Are you ready to go? Do you have your gun ready?" hehe I love my wife. She is complaining a little about her SR9C and how heavy it is in her purse but I told her, "I'd rather listen to you telling the police how you shot that rapist/mugger/car jacker, than listening to the police tell me about how they found your body in some alley."

[rubiconjp]

Yeah my Jeep was broken into with the purpose of auto-theft. They tried hard to drive it away and managed to back out of the parking spot but the Chrysler sentry key system kept on killing the engine on my 5 speed Wrangler. They tried to disable the sentry key system too (opened hood, dismantled steering). The entire steering column was completely ripped/dismantled. The thing is I suspected it was the apartment complex security guy who did it.

Anyway, Hayward PD (Bay area CA) came out then called the crime scene van. This was in 2001.

[GeorgeW]

We recently had our car broken into. My wife had left the car unlocked and the person basically threw everything out of the glove box onto the floor. They also did the same to about seven other cars in the neighborhood. I think it was kids because they didn't steal anything although they did remove the GPS but perhaps forgot it since it was buried under papers from the glove box. There was also a $400 radar detector on the front window that they didn't touch. A real thief would have taken the detector and GPS for some quick cash. The police man basically wrote down the details and left. I did give him some info about a neighbor's kid around the corner who had been locked up for breaking into homes earlier in the year. I didn't know if the kid was out now or what but thought it would help. As far as home burglaries, they aren't common around my area but in our old neighborhood they were. We got an alarm system with cameras and never had a problem.

[gigag04]

I kind of forgot that the son of the DA plays on this guys baseball team, and the next day the REAL detectives were there.

What's a "REAL" detective?