The Friday series

I am going to write a series of posts this week about things that happened last Friday, August 22. I thought it might be an interesting way to examine some significant issues that just happened to come up on a single day.

The day started early, when I did a little crime analysis research at home and posted Catalytic Converter Thefts. It was an apropos prelude to the day's scheduled activity, teaching an eight-hour class, Information Resources, that I prepare twice each year for the students in our basic police academy.

During Friday's class, the students did a couple of exercises to examine two crime trends: thefts from automobiles in which convertible tops were cut, and auto break-ins occurring at recreational facilities. The students found only a handful of convertible top cases, but we discussed how they could approach these crimes if a series was actually occurring. There was no need to speak hypothetically about the recreational areas, though: the students found a group of these within the past few weeks, occurring at places such as the MOPAC trailhead near S. 84th and South Hazelwood Dr., the Jamaica North Trail parking lot near 27th St. and Saltillo Rd., and the Pioneers Park Nature Center.

Looking at these offenses, the pattern is clear. Car windows are broken out while the victim is away for a hour or two for a workout. We first noticed this modus operandi a couple of years ago. Recreational areas like these offer an obvious opportunity. I had the students try to think more like criminals, to identify those opportunities:

• You can be pretty certain there is a purse or a wallet in the car. If it's an after-work workout, you have a good chance of scoring a laptop, too.


• When someone un-racks a bike and rides off down the trail, you know you have a window of time of at least an hour or so to commit your crime.


• You can simply wait around until the coast is clear, smash the window, and grab whatever is handy.


• Once you've got the purse or wallet, you can hot-foot it to the nearest self service gas pump, and fill you tank with the victim's debit card (no PIN required.)

I asked the students to think about how they could impact this problem. Some of their ideas included patrolling these lots to deter thieves, talking to people arriving for visits to suggest that they lock their belongings in the trunk, parking in spots with good visibility, and getting some awareness and prevention tips out through the news media. We had a good discussion about the efficacy of a preventive approach compared to an investigative one, and personal face-to-face contact vs. news reports. We talked about routine activities theory: the concept that crime occurs when there is a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian. Getting the word out to citizens increases guardianship, and may be the most effective way of reducing crimes of this type.

Since I was tied up teaching, I only glanced at my email during breaks. There were a total of forty emails in my inbox Friday. That's what I'll be working on today. A professor at the University of Nebraska wants me to speak to her ethics class, a colleague and the National Institute of Justice wants our 2006 Incident Report data for a research project, the County Administrator needs to schedule a meeting regarding the jail, a Los Angeles television producer wants to discuss filming an episode of a police reality TV show in Lincoln, and so forth. I have an interesting and varied job.