How do thieves choose a house to enter? Are there some houses more attractive owing to lights, blinds, locks, type of lock, doors,etc. Does having a radio on or a light on in the bathroom or kitchen have any effect on the decision to enter a house. Are older people more apt to have their houses broken into.

Many thanks.

Ed.

A| When Bill and Eddie broke into a house for us, they first thing they did was walk the neighbourhood, looking to see how many people were around. A Blockwatch sign made them nervous. An alarm sign was clearly a deterrent.

On the other hand, when they walked the back lane, they liked cover. A fence or hedge to keep them from being seen. They also looked for an easy way in.

Two of the most common entry paths: a basement door that can be easily kicked in (but easily reinforced to thwart a break-in) and a glass window near a door which can be broken in and give inside access to a lock (again, break resistant glass and a lock that can't be easily reached can help.)

Bill and Eddie used to look for easy targets. Would a radio be enough to make them think someone was inside? Maybe. A pile of unclaimed mail or the morning's newspaper on the porch certainly would suggest no one was home. Dogs are good. Noisy ones even better. Dark houses, with blinds drawn, provide cover.

And when Eddie went through the bedroom during the break in, he went to all the familiar hiding places: all the drawers in the dressers, including the sock and underwear drawer. Also, surprisingly to me, they looked under the bed and the mattress. Yes, that's a prime hiding place it seems.

How do you carry all this loot? Bill and Eddie were pleased to find some carry-on bags that the homeowner had (unwittingly) kindly left in the bedroom.

Posted February 20, 2008 12:02 PM

Q| Having shopped at Future Shop as an example, when you are purchasing an item they ask you for your name, current address etc. Is this information not available to all their Store Employees that could give outside persons this information for new purchase big ticket type items that could then be stolen?

A| We asked the Vancouver Police department and they said this is not a problem they have identified. Sometimes people are targeted soon after they buy expensive electronics but that may just be the odds (there are so many break-ins, some are bound to happen soon after the victim has bought something) Or maybe because the cardboard boxes in recycling brings attention to the purchases. Of course, if you have any reason to believe an employee at any store has played a role in your break in, tell police.

Posted February 19, 2008 01:06 PM

Q| Property crime is rampant in the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver - all related to the open drug market on the very same streets. If a thief has a $100 a day habit and a pawn shop only gives approximately 10% of the value of the goods brought in for sale then that thief/drug user must steal $1000 a day in order to feed the habit. Since most crime in the area seems to stem from drug use when are the police going to start arresting the drug addicts and dealers to alleviate the subsequent property crime? When is our government going to stop doing studies and start tackling the issues? The issue is addiction just in case any politicians or police are paying attention.

A| Please check the answer below about community courts and how they may change things.

Posted February 19, 2008 01:04 PM

Q| Are most B&Es from households or businesses, caused because of inside information? As I have had losses 3 times over 25 years by my brother twice and a friend once.

A| Vancouver Police say the overwhelming majority of break-ins are committed by people with no connections to the victim.

Posted February 18, 2008 09:32 PM

Q| This is a brilliant look at the influence of the drug culture on young people. Combined with an unstable family background, young people can be easily persuaded to commit felonies.

If children growing up have (at least) some positive influences to understand that there are alternatives to crime and drugs I think they would see much healther outcomes.

The key to these influences would be: a) giving back to your community is rewarding. b) being educated and APPLYING this education to one's life is rewarding. I've been there and I can say that the reason I didn't stay there was because I thought I had alternatives, I felt empowered, and I could survive in other ways, without relying on my crummy 'friends'. Parents: be good to your children.

A|That certainly is echoed by both the experts we spoke to and, perhaps most compellingly, the former criminals. Bill and Eddie, the pair who showed us how they used to break into houses, spoke of a childhood surrounded by various types of abuse.

Before long they found themselves on a lifelong battle against drug and alcohol addiction. "Mike", the former criminal who didn't want his real name used, first ran afoul of the law as a twelve year old. He said his father was cruel and he found a "family" in the juvenile jail. A family that taught him, he says, to steal.

He started with shoplifting, moved to house break-ins and eventually was involved in brazen, violent armed robberies. He learned to enjoy the money, the power and the lifestyle. But it all started, he says, at home, as a twelve year old.

Posted February 18, 2008 06:57 PM

Q| Our Police departments and neighborhood residents and the business community are struggling daily with drug-related crime and social problems and ways to get one step ahead of criminal element.

Why aren't those, who are elected to be representatives of the people and have the ability to initiate laws to deal with the Drug epidemic in our society and which affects all aspects of our society, not doing anything to deal with this problem crippling our neighborhoods and creating an unhealthy atmosphere for all, especially, our children, our future generations?

A|As I mentioned in an earlier answer, the community court project is an attempt to deal with this long term problem which has plagued not just the lower mainland but communities around the world.

We've done many stories on the Downtown Eastside over the last fifteen years and each time, there have been many suggestions on how to help addicts either stop using drugs and alcohol or better manage their addictions. The key issue in the 2002 vancouver civic election was the so-called four pillars proposal.

Lots of study, lots of good intentions and a little over five years later, to what extent have things changed? So, you're not alone in identifying this problem.

Posted February 18, 2008 03:59 PM

Q| If you're a victim of a break-in and you've had your stolen property replaced through your house insurance, is there a risk of a follow-up break-in since the thieves know that you have new items or are houses just targeted randomly?

A|Of course, so much depends on the thief. We've talked to people who said they were motivated by a desperate addiction at the moment they broke in and all they were thinking about was finding something they could sell quickly to get drugs.

Others are far more sophisticated. You've probably heard of thieves who back up a moving truck and empty a house. Needless to say, they've invested some time and effort in planning their heist.

And there are people who discover a certain house is easy prey and can't resist coming back.

That the stuff they stole might be replaced would be an obvious bonus.

Posted February 18, 2008 12:59 PM

Q| I live facing and alley and I have noticed that more the 20 people are going through our dumpters and reading discarded mail. I have also noticed the dumpters on our alley have very detailed grafitti or gang tags on them.

Do the Police or any of your contacts know if the Dumpster Tags are some sort or map the property Criminals to communicate with each other about potential break-in?

A| Police say the graffiti is not mapping, but territory marking.

As for discarded mail, they strongly recommend you not put anything in your garbage that contains readable information about you, your financial affairs or anything else you wouldn't want someone to see if they went through the garbage. Home paper shredders are widely available and relatively inexpensive.

Posted February 18, 2008 12:02 PM

This morning on the Early Edition, they mentioned "closed blinds" twice but did not say if closed blinds are a good thing or a bad thing.

Does it mean they can assume someone is home...or does it mean they can assume no one is home if it is daytime and the blinds are closed??

A| Bill and Eddie, the career criminals who showed us how they used to break in to houses, said closed blinds - especially over large living room windows - helped them stay hidden from the street while they robbed a house.

On the other hand, they also said the window in the front door allowed them to size up what might be inside. So, there is no simple rule-of-thumb for which blinds to keep shut when you're out.

But they did offer two other, clear rules: a sign for an alarm and a Blockwatch Neighbourhood sign would sometimes be enough to make them skip a house or an entire block.

Posted February 18, 2008 11:09 AM

Q| Given that drugs or drug dealers are responsible for an estimated ninety percent of the crimes that our communities are dealing with; why is it that the current justice system is so lenient on the drug dealers who reeking havoc within our communities?

In some cases they are realesed right back into our commuities the next day,to continnue their destruction of peoples lives. That to me is insanity!

Thanks,
John E. McKenzie

A| I have heard judges asked that very question at public meetings over the last couple of years.

Some say the problem is that the complex problems of addiction are not simply solved by longer sentences. As one judge put it, what prison term would you give someone convicted of a break and enter and whose criminal acts are spurred by a drug addiction. A week? A month? And would they then be any less likely to commit another crime than if they had been let out "the next day"?

Enter the Community Court. A major project, set to be unveiled this year, which is designed precisely to address this problem.

As I understand it. chronic offenders with addiction will be among the people who will get the treatment they need.

Having covered many crime stories in Vancouver over the last twenty years, I am eagerly waiting to see what impact the Community Court will have.

Posted February 16, 2008 03:50 PM