Capt. Paul Chignell: Police Beat

Auto Burglaries Continue
In recent weeks, we have seen an uptick in reports of auto burglaries throughout the Taraval District. No neighborhood seems immune to the fact that automobiles are constantly being vandalized or valuables taken from inside the vehicles. From Monterey Heights to the lower Great Highway, from Lincoln Way to the Daly City line, we continue to take these reports.

Many of the crimes are occurring in the late evening hours but even in broad daylight cases are being reported. We also know that many residents do not report these crimes, even when they occur due to the fact that their insurance will not cover the loss or they have reported these crimes in the past and are discouraged.

The officers at Taraval Station are much more aware of the numbers and locations of these crimes due to a new reporting mechanism that allows us to receive reports closer to the actual time reported, as opposed to waiting a number of days for the reports to arrive from our "teleserve," an online service. We urge victims to report any auto vandalism or auto burglary no matter how minor.

There are lots of reasons for this, but most importantly we need to know specifically where the crimes are occurring and what patterns there are, in terms of the time they are happening, so we can allocate our resources to prevent the crimes and arrest suspects.

Prevention is key to stopping auto burglaries. Keep your car locked and do not leave any valuables in your car. Use anti-theft devices to secure your car and try to park it in a garage. If the vehicle must be left outside, try to keep it where there is lighting at night. There are multiple auto thieves operating throughout the City.

If you see anyone loitering around a car, trying to open car doors, looking suspiciously in car windows, and the like, do not hesitate to call the police immediately. Many of these car burglars are in possession of illegal tools and many of them are wanted on arrest warrants or are on probation or parole. Even if they are just suspicious and have not yet committed a crime, we want to check them out.

The supervisors at Taraval Station are sending our plainclothes units to problem areas and are saturating streets that have seen an increase in these crimes. By working together, we can diminish auto burglary and auto vandalism in our community.

Capt. Paul Chignell is the commanding officer at the Taraval Police Station.