Property crimes also decrease and remain a priority

There has been a lot of discussion recently about the reduction in violent crimes – particularly homicides – in Kansas City this year. But I want to assure you this does not mean we’ve forgotten about property crimes. We have many people working as hard as ever to stop those who commit these crimes, which affect far more of our residents than violent crime does.

And the proof of their hard work, combined with help from the community, is in the statistical pudding. Through the first of September, property crimes in Kansas City were down by 13 percent compared to the same time period last year. To break that down further, burglaries were down 19 percent, stealing was down 13 percent, and auto theft was down 5 percent.

I recently came across some great examples of the hard work our detectives are doing to protect our residents’ property and stop habitual offenders. The Central Patrol Division experienced a spike in business and residential burglaries over the last few months. There were several different patterns and modus operandi. Central Property Crimes Section detectives went after these cases with vigor. In one month, they filed cases on suspects in five separate burglary patterns, including a group of known gang members responsible for burglaries all over the metropolitan area.

They stopped a career criminal they’d previously called “Spiderman.” He would climb onto the balconies of second- and third-story apartments and enter them through unlocked sliding glass doors, stealing jewelry, cell phones and electronics. The detectives recognized the pattern because they’d investigated “Spiderman” five years ago and realized he’d been released from prison at the same time the thefts started again. Detectives conducted surveillance on him and followed him to an abandoned house full of all the property he’d stolen. He was arrested and charged.

They stopped someone else who was stealing lawn equipment from sheds and detached garages. Another suspect was arrested after prowling and stealing from numerous houses, often when the residents were home.

Another career criminal recently released from prison was breaking into downtown lofts by cutting through walls. Detectives gathered surveillance video and showed it to district officers to see if they recognized the man. They didn’t. That’s because the man had just gotten out of prison. He made the mistake of dropping a car title near one of the burglary scenes. The Central Property Crimes detectives were able to track him down, and he matched the suspect in the surveillance videos. He confessed to the crimes, and detectives found several of the items he stole at local pawn shops.

So in just one month, one property crimes squad stopped five major burglary rings. We have five other property crimes squads who are working just as hard. The drop in violent crime has gotten most of the press, and we are certainly encouraged by that. But through September 1, there were 11,133 more victims of property crime than violent crime in Kansas City. It affects many more people, and that’s why we continue to devote adequate resources to combating it. But fortunately, fewer and fewer people are becoming victims: 2,165 fewer victims of property crime this year compared to last year.

And as always, your help is integral to keeping property crime down:

· Do not leave items of value in your vehicle.

· Park in well-lit areas at night.

· Lock your home and vehicle.

Persistent offenders responsible for most of Kansas City's property crimes

Kansas City recorded 6,956 burglaries last year, but I can assure you that there are not 6,956 suspects responsible for them. Most burglars in Kansas City are persistent offenders, breaking into homes and businesses over and over again. We have arrested single suspects responsible for hundreds of burglaries, and as soon as we do, neighborhoods that have been plagued with these thefts suddenly have none. Police grow weary, arresting the same people over and over again. Sometimes they’ll arrest them for burglary and see them back out on the streets in the next few days, set free by low bond amounts and given probation instead of prison time. This is an exceptionally frustrating issue for us at KCPD. Our officers and detectives do an absolutely phenomenal job of finding and arresting these persistent offenders, but other pieces of the criminal justice system send them back out to commit their crimes again.

So I wanted to show you an example of just a couple of the persistent offenders who have been plaguing us lately.

First, there’s a 48-year-old man who has been involved in persistent criminal activity in Kansas City, Mo., and surrounding areas since 1989. He is devastating areas of the South Patrol Division right now and is a person of interest in crimes in numerous other jurisdictions, as well. Here’s some of his timeline:

Aug. 17, 1989 – Convicted of stealing, sentenced to 60 days in jail
Nov. 18, 1989 – Convicted of burglary, sentenced to five years of probation
July 13, 1990 – Convicted of burglary, sentenced to two years in prison
Oct. 12, 1990 to March 14, 1991 – Incarcerated
March 15, 1991 – Paroled
Sept. 4, 1991, to June 12, 1992 – Incarcerated for parole violation
July 15, 1992 – Complete release from parole
April 29, 1994 – Convicted of stealing a motor vehicle, sentenced to three years in prison
April 29, 1994, to Aug. 7, 1995 – Incarcerated
Aug. 8, 1995 – Paroled
Sept. 15, 1996 – Convicted for stealing, sentenced to 30 days in jail
Sept. 8, 1997, to March 24, 1998 – Incarcerated
Aug. 12, 2001 – convicted of two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, sentenced to four years of probation
Dec. 17, 2002 – convicted of driving with a revoked license, sentenced to two years of probation
April 28, 2011 – Charged with theft between $500 and $2,500
June 12, 2011 – Charged with theft between $500 and $2,500
July 14, 2011 – Charged with 1st degree burglary
Aug. 4, 2011 – Bonded out of Jackson County Jail by posting 10 percent of $7,500 bond

The last three charges involved repeated theft at Notre de Dame de Sion High School in South Kansas City. They were spaced apart enough that the school was able to replace the equipment, and then those replacements were subsequently stolen.

Then there’s a 51-year-old man who has victimized many, many people in the Metro Patrol Division and beyond. His criminal career in Kansas City began in 1982:

May 12, 1982 – Convicted of larceny under $50, sentenced to 730 days of probation
Nov. 29, 1984 – Convicted of larceny over $200, sentenced to one year of probation
Dec. 1, 1991 – Convicted of two counts of burglary, sentenced to two years of probation
Feb. 27, 1994 – Convicted of larceny under $50 in Kansas, sentence unknown
July 27, 1994 – Convicted of possessing a weapon in Kansas, sentence unknown
Aug. 30, 1995 – Convicted of 1st-degree burglary, two counts of 2nd-degree burglary, two counts of stealing, sentenced to 4 years in prison – released after 120 days and given 5 years of probation
Aug. 29, 1998 – Convicted of 1st-degree burglary and stealing, sentenced to five years of probation
June 4, 2001 – Convicted of 1st-degree burglary, stealing and possession of drugs, sentenced to five years in prison but serves about two years
March 23, 2004 – Convicted of possessing drugs, sentenced to five years in prison, serves about three years
April 12, 2010 – convicted of 1st-degree burglary, sentenced to two years of probation
July 27, 2010 – charged with theft over $500, bonds out
Dec. 2, 2010 – failed to appear in court
Jan. 27, 2011 – charged with 2nd-degree burglary and stealing over $500, remains in custody in lieu of $10,000 bond

These are just two of the many criminals who spend their days and nights prowling for opportunities to steal from vehicles, home and businesses. They take away residents’ sense of security in their own home. We’re doing all we can at the police department to stop them and to keep them from walking the streets freely and victimizing more people.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Thanks for your tips on stolen Nikes

We want to give a big thanks to the multiple people who called in tips about the stolen Nike shoes that are being sold on the streets of Kansas City. They led us to execute a search warrant last night in the 4500 block of Park. Police recovered 63 pairs of the Nike shoes stolen from Junction City, Kan., on Feb. 24. They also recovered a gun and ammunition. The investigation is ongoing, and police expect to recover more of the stolen shoes. A picture of one of the shoes they recovered last night is above.

Detectives know that many of these shoes are still out there and being sold illegally. (At retail, they sell for $95 a pair.) Keep in mind that anyone who is caught with them could be prosecuted for receiving stolen property. So please call the TIPS Hotline (816-474-TIPS) if you run across anyone trying to sell these (all the pairs stolen from Junction City look like those above), and thanks again to those who already have done so.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Police making it easier for theft victims to reclaim their property

PRESS RELEASE:

Detectives at a Northland Kansas City Police station have come up with a new way for theft victims to identify and reclaim their stolen property.

The Shoal Creek Patrol Division Property Crimes Section has launched an account on the photo-sharing site Flickr to post pictures of items they’ve recovered in large theft investigations.

“We want to make it more convenient for the public to get online and see if an item is theirs,” Sergeant Daniel Graves said. “It’s a lot easier than making victims drive all the way out to the station to look at it.”

Each picture notes when police recovered the stolen item(s) and which detective is working the case. Theft victims will need to have their police report case number ready when they call detectives to identify the property as theirs.

About 100 photos are on the site now and include stolen items ranging from jewelry to old photographs to construction equipment to antique books to computers. Sergeant Graves said the site will be updated and refreshed regularly. Detectives have another 150 to 200 item pictures they plan to post in the coming weeks. They have connected victims to the stolen items from as far away as Andrew County, Mo., north of St. Joseph.

The site is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcpd_shoal_creek/. A link also is available through KCPD’s web site at http://www.kcmo.org/police/BoundaryMap/ShoalCreekPatrolDivision/PropertyCrimes/index.htm.  

Most stolen cars in KC over the past three years

Channel 5 has a report out today about our most stolen cars so far this year. I wanted to dig back a little deeper and let you know the 10 most stolen vehicles over the past three years. Some of these are because they're just such popular vehicles and there are a lot of them on the road.

Others are work of thieves who specialize - the Dodge Intrepid was largely the work of a small crime ring that stole dozens of them in 2008 and 2009 who are now in prison (the Intrepid isn't even in the top 10 so far this year).

And just a warning as temperatures get colder - many of our car thefts come from vehicles left running unattended in the winter. Many of the cars below were part of that:

1.) Honda Accord
2.) Ford F150
3.) Dodge Intrepid
4.) Ford Taurus
5.) Jeep Cherokee
6.) Chevrolet Silverado
7.) Dodge Caravan
8.) Ford Explorer
9.) Oldsmobile Cutlass
10.) Dodge Ram

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

Police recover large amount of stolen property, seek rightful owners

PRESS RELEASE:

Police have recovered a significant amount of stolen property following the investigation of an armed robbery in the Waldo area Sunday morning and would like to find the rightful owners.

The armed residential robbery took place at 209 W. 78th Terrace the morning of May 23, and in the course of investigating that, property crimes detectives found large amounts of stolen property taken in other burglaries. They recovered 56 guns, electronics, construction equipment, wheels, tires, valuable comic books and collectibles.

They ask anyone who was burglarized recently in the Waldo area or who had construction equipment stolen to call the Metro Patrol Property Crimes Division at 816-234-5525 to schedule an appointment to see if any of the stolen property belongs to them.

Below are some of the guns that have been recovered: