Burglaries can baffle police
JANESVILLE — Burglary is a tough crime to solve—as evidenced by the Janesville Police Department's 12 percent clearance rate for burglaries last year.
"Burglary is unlike violent crime," said Lt. Tim Hiers, head of the Janesville detective bureau. "In virtually all violent crimes (except for some homicides), you have eyewitnesses, whether it's the victim or other eyewitnesses.
"Although everyone wants physical evidence and DNA, it's still important to have someone who witnessed the crime," Hiers said.
Unless the burglar has an accomplice, that's rare.
This year, police are likely to have more burglaries to investigate.
The 346 break-ins reported through August this year puts the city on a pace for an annual total of about 519, which would be up from the 431 reported in 2007 but just about match the five-year average.
Hiers had no explanation for why burglaries dropped last year, but he and other brass at the department attribute most Janesville burglaries to drug users needing money for drugs.
"It's no different than what we've found in the past," Hiers said. "Either the property is exchanged for drugs or sold for cash to buy drugs."
A couple of years ago, a Janesville police department survey showed a high correlation between drug use and property crimes.
The department randomly picked 120 people involved in property crimes, such as burglary and theft, and found 46 percent had histories of drug arrests or involvement.
Sixty drug users chosen at random had histories of property crime, according to the survey.
The 431 burglaries in 2007 were among 68,383 reported police activities, ranging from one water rescue to 10,016 traffic stops, according to the yearly report.
Because witnesses to burglaries are scarce, "physical evidence is what solves burglaries—fingerprints, DNA," Hiers said.
Janesville police recently made an arrest in 2002 burglary because DNA recovered from that crime scene finally matched DNA recorded in a database, and a 2005 burglary was solved because a fingerprint found at the scene finally matched a print entered in a database, Hiers said.
Eyewitnesses and tips to CrimeStoppers also help police solve burglaries, the detective said, but usually police are left with little or nothing to investigate.
And solvability—based on evidence, suspects, witnesses and/or tips—is what prompts local police to pursue burglaries, not the amount of what was stolen, Hiers said.
Without at least one of those elements, burglary reports typically are flagged with the phrase: "No follow-up recommended."
But even without any of those factors, the department will list burglaries that resulted in substantial losses on the CrimeStoppers tip line because thieves are more likely to brag about big scores, Hiers said.
Police regularly check with local pawnshops, the operators of which are required to record the property they accept and from whom, he added.
PREVENTING BURGLARY
While burglary is tough for the police to solve, let alone prevent, it is not tough for residents to keep themselves from being victims.
"People still do break into garages, residences and vehicles to steal property. And people still do cut (window) screens. But they also go through unlocked doors," Lt. Tim Hiers said.
"People still leave their keys in vehicles. People still do leave purses in cars. But you can reduce your chances of being a victim of burglary and theft by locking your doors," Hiers said.
Janesville police have pamphlets available outlining tips on how to prevent burglaries.
The literature is available at the department, 100 N. Jackson St., or by calling Sgt. Brian Donohoue, the department's crime prevention specialist, at (608) 755-3133 or (608) 755-3077.
Oct 1, 2008 at 8:57 a.m.
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This is akin to not securing your firearms properly i.e. leaving the door unlocked to the gun shop. The boys shouldn't have their mugs all over the internet. That's a high price to pay for what amounts to 'civic negligence' on part of the store owners and dare I say; the Police. Dereliction of common sense at the very least.
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. I'm glad no one got hurt. Boys get on with your studies .. don't get distracted by this .. school is in high gear.
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. Move along now. Get back to your books.
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Oct 1, 2008 at 8:14 a.m.
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... I just looked the NATIONAL clearance rate up for burglaries, which is also 12 percent on the FBI website... huh... so much for the argument that JPD is falling behind
Oct 1, 2008 at 7:54 a.m.
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To all you people that don't like Janesville, don't like how the police do their job, etc., etc. LEAVE or get off your couch, quit sitting here posting stupid comments on how you have all the answers and can do a better job. What are you doing to better the community? Probably nothing. You're all pathetic. I'm glad the Gazette started letting people post comments so you all have something to do with your time...like waste it.
Here's an idea, you should go into politics so you can argue about how things can be fixed, but then end up not fixing them at all. Go debate team!
Sep 30, 2008 at 9:16 p.m.
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i'm surprised by the lack of respect for police officers.
everywhere they go, everything they do is potentially life threatening.
how many of the people knocking them in this forum face anything close everyday?
by the way, i did have a break in -- thieves stole my cell phone from my car.
the police did come by.
and they did file a report.
and about three in the morning, they returned with news they caught the thief.
nice job!
a little respect please.
Sep 30, 2008 at 8:44 p.m.
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One way they could solve crimes is to actually investigate. If your vehicle gets broken into and you call the police this does not mean they will even show up to look for evidence. Our house was broken into while we were home and the cop wasn't even going to take finger prints from the door that the thief obviously had to open to get in. I had to tell him to take them. He said he didn't want to because the fingerprint dust was hard to get off the door. I really don't care if I have to scrub the door to get the damn dust off. Print it and put it on file. Run the prints against prints on file. Most likely a person breaking into houses has a criminal past. Even if he/she doesn't, keep them on file so you can bust him down the road when he does finally get caught.
Another example-My buddies car got stolen from his driveway, police found it in the fourth ward and called him. He got it back with some things missing out of it. When he tried to turn a claim into the insurance he needed a police report. When he called to get it from the PD they hadn't even writen one and this was a month later. How does that happen. Maybe the same guy that broke into our house but since they probably never finger printed anything I guess they will never know.
Sep 30, 2008 at 3:13 p.m.
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While I certaqinly wouldn't argue about the stolen items being sold for drug money, in the current ecomonic situation, it's just as likely that the ill-gotten cash is being used for gas or groceries.
Sep 30, 2008 at 3:11 p.m.
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im with lakennedy. the fewer the guns the better. i have no problem with responsible gun ownership. but all guns should be locked up, which gives NO protection in an emergency. and the concealed weapons law would be silly. to many people out there who cant control their temper on the road, at work, at school(weve seen em all) who would be eligible to get a concealed weapon cuz theyre not a criminal...until they pull that trigger....
Sep 30, 2008 at 2:34 p.m.
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lakennedy said "I'll bet this little boy wished his dad hadn't had a gun in the house."
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First of all, it's very tragic what happened.
Second, the boys dad was a sheriff's deputy. I'd question a deputy who didn't have a gun in the house.
Third, the article clearly stated "It's not yet clear how the gun got into the child's hands." So you don't even have all the facts surrounding this case. What are the circumstances that caused the deputy to leave his gun unattended?
Sep 30, 2008 at 1:48 p.m.
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In the state of WI, if someone breaks into your home and steals stuff you can't shoot them. You can only shoot them if they propose an imminent threat to you or your family. Wisconsin needs the Castle Doctrine as well as a conceal carry law.
Sep 30, 2008 at 1:45 p.m.
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Well since that one was solved so easily, here's a new one:
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/844006.h...
I'll bet this little boy wished his dad hadn't had a gun in the house.
Sep 30, 2008 at 1:42 p.m.
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Spunkmeyer: YEP,bye bye. Like my DAD always said when i was a kid,that bug that hit the windshield,i bet he wont have enough guts to do that again.! I wish that little girl that got rapped last year would've had a gun,problem solved!!
Sep 30, 2008 at 1:39 p.m.
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I definitely feel safer knowing that everyone has a gun. I think right along with your drivers license, you should be given a firearm. That makes sense. I mean we should certainly ignore the FACTS that show the alarming rate accidental shootings increase in homes with all of these "responsible" gun owners...
Sep 30, 2008 at 1:33 p.m.
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Mike F is correct. I also agree that all homes should be protected by a gun, and by a competent, trained homeowner. Burglaries turn ugly when the homeowner comes home and walks in on burglar, that's why we need concealed carry law in WI.
Sep 30, 2008 at 1:13 p.m.
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Did you even read the first four paragraphs? In order for your owning a gun to make any difference, you would need to SEE the burglar. According to the article, one of the reasons of such a low resolution rate is because there are no witnesses. No witnesses means no one around to see the burglary. If you are not at home to see the burglary, you will not see the person, thus your gun will do no good whatsoever. In fact, the gun will more than likely end up on the list of items stolen.
Sep 30, 2008 at 1:06 p.m.
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"Seriously? You would take someone's life over a stupid TV or Playstation?"
YES!
What makes you think they'll stop at playstations and TV's. The death of a drug crazed criminal has a much higher success rate in reducing crime than rehab or jail.
Sep 30, 2008 at 12:57 p.m.
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Personally I don't own a gun and have no plans of purchasing one. I'm not certain but what they could cause more problems than they resolve in an instance of a robbery. However I think there's more to a person's reaction to a home robbery than just anger over the loss of property. Yes, losing your property is reason to get angry but psychologically the loss of security may be even more of an issue. People tend to feel safe in their homes. It's one place they can go, have control and isolate themselves from the outside world and in doing so gain a sense of security and safety. Thieves who break into your home threaten that sense of safety and victims feel violated. I've known people who were robbed and many of them have been more upset that someone actually entered their home than they are about the loss of property. It's hard to describe but in some instances it has a significant psychological impact on them. How many alarm systems are sold after such an instance? It's hard to describe but it's definitely a factor victims deal with.
Sep 30, 2008 at 12:52 p.m.
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I wouldn't take someone's life over a Playstation, but I would to protect my family and I have every right to do so.
Sep 30, 2008 at 12:25 p.m.
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Seriously? You would take someone's life over a stupid TV or Playstation? Things can be replaced. That's what insurance is for.
Sep 30, 2008 at 12:24 p.m.
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I agree
Sep 30, 2008 at 12:13 p.m.
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I think ALL households should have a gun to protect themselves,and their property & family. I say blow away some of these crooks,then maybe their bro. & sisters will see the light,BEFORE THE LIGHTS GO OUT!!!!
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