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Peggy Kelly (18)
Susan Branham (1)

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Although car burglaries have shown a decrease they are still an ongoing problem and a problem with a new twist: thefts are starting to occur more during daylight hours, according to a Santa Paula Police Department spokesman.

By Peggy Kelly

Santa Paula Times

Although car burglaries have shown a decrease they are still an ongoing problem and a problem with a new twist: thefts are starting to occur more during daylight hours, according to a Santa Paula Police Department spokesman. Lieutenant Carlos Juarez said that most of the recent burglaries “occurred randomly throughout the city, late at night or in the early morning hours,” and even with the recent arrests of multiple suspects the problem is “ongoing.”

Now some of the thefts are occurring in broad daylight. “In fact,” Juarez noted, “some of these daytime burglaries have occurred in the parking lots of churches while families are attending Sunday morning services.”

Such thefts could have been taking place for a longer period of time, and Juarez said people might just be starting to report same. “Maybe people were thinking that no one would steal from their vehicle during the day,” and then discovered the theft later.

Many car burglaries are attributed to “people being far too trusting and not locking their cars, or some forgetting to lock their vehicles,” with valuables in plain sight. Initially the “draw or attraction is people leaving their valuables within sight,” anything from a GPS left on the dash to an iPod or MP3 player adapter in the cassette player. “Or even a small amount of currency or cash in the console” can result in a theft.

Juarez said, “Those who remember to lock their cars but leave valuables within sight have suffered the same fate, with the added expense and trouble of having to replace broken windows” resulting from a smash and grab theft. Juarez said the SPPD has some suggestions for the public.

Most people know their neighbors, their timelines of who comes and goes in their neighborhoods and what vehicles are familiar to their neighborhoods. “Police have responded to calls of suspicious people or vehicles and, in many cases, intercept and identify people involved in criminal activity,” he noted.

“Sure, there will be those circumstances when a suspicious person happens to be your neighbors’ relative, or a delivery person, or even someone feeding the neighbors’ dog while they are on vacation,” but most people “would feel relieved that they have such cautious and observant neighbors.” The SPPD encourages “reports of suspicious vehicles or persons, coupled with a good description and, if possible, license plate numbers.”

The best defense against vehicle burglary is, when leaving it home or in a public place, “Please take your valuables with you or lock them in the trunk of the vehicle.” Although, Juarez noted, the SPPD is “seeing vehicle burglaries slowing down a little bit; maybe” thieves are going elsewhere for criminal activity.

“Or people are getting more savvy, removing valuables and locking their cars... people have been more apt” to report suspicious activity to the SPPD and, said Juarez, overall “just seem to be more cognizant of what is going on.”