Vehicle burglary rampant in Westwood area

Published: Tuesday, December 1, 1998

Tuesday, December 1, 1998

CARS: Thieves frequently target campus parking permits, electronic goods

By Ann Hawkey

Daily Bruin Staff

With thousands of cars jamming the streets and filling the driveways of Westwood each day, it may come as no surprise that local police name vehicle burglaries as the biggest crime problem in the area surrounding UCLA.

This year, the LAPD has investigated 53 reports of grand theft auto, and 108 reports of car break-ins in Westwood, with Hondas being the most popular target for thieves, police said.

"One of the areas that gets hit the most is where the fraternities are," said Sergio Guzman, LAPD's senior lead officer for the Westwood area

Although this area on Gayley Avenue is one of the most commonly hit, break-ins are reported from all over Westwood.

Suspects in these cases usually enter the car by breaking a window, and generally take stereos, laptops, compact discs and anything else that may be in sight, Guzman said.

Car burglaries are not limited to off-campus cars, although the crime is not as frequent on campus, according to Detective Steve Blayney, who investigates auto thefts for the university police.

"Probably the No. 1 crime on campus would be office burglaries, and vehicle burglaries would be No. 2," Blayney said.

"But off-campus, the car burglaries are going to be No. 1," he said.

Most car burglaries on campus take place during the daylight hours and usually in the parking structures, rather than in the lots, because it is easier to remain inconspicuous in large structures.

Although UCPD deals regularly with burglaries from cars, grand theft auto has not been a major problem at UCLA, Blayney said.

"Once in a rare while we'll see maybe four or five cars go in a few days, and that's when we concentrate patrol," Blayney said.

"One of the reasons it's infrequent is, if you consider the square mileage of the area here, we've got a lot of cops. Most criminals aren't dumb - if they see all these cops, they're going to move on," he said.

Parking permits, however, are a frequent target for car break-ins on campus, with several reported stolen each week from various parking lots, and many cases showing no sign of forced entry.

Last year, parking enforcement officers recovered over 150 permits that were reported lost or stolen or were fraudulent permits.

"Any type of break-ins to vehicles that involve the theft of a permit is certainly something we want to avoid," said Stephen Rand, manager of parking, traffic and adjudication.

"On the other hand, the number of cars that are broken into that have permits stolen are a very small percentage of the total number of cars that display a permit on a daily basis," he said.

Thefts of parking permits are generally more opportunistic crimes, and many thieves may not understand the seriousness of the offense.

Blayney said many thieves may see an opportunity to take a parking permit out of a car, such as an unlocked door or empty garage and decide to go through with the crime without any premeditation.

"They think it is relatively minor, but it could conceivably be a felony, depending on how they got into the car," Blayney said. "That lure of saving $300 to $400 for a permit is just too strong for some people."

Stolen parking permits are easily traceable, though, because the permits are numbered and assigned individually, and parking services and the police have a list of all the stolen permits, Blayney said.

If a car is found displaying a stolen permit, the vehicle could be impounded, and the owner is required to explain him or herself to parking enforcement officials, who will then determine what legal action should be taken.

Suspects in more traditional car burglary cases can be harder to track, although police said they eventually catch most of the offenders.

"I would say we get all of them eventually, but they may commit numerous crimes of that type before they're caught," Blayney said.

Police said simple steps, such as locking car doors and putting away valuables, can be taken to prevent car break-ins, both on and off campus.

"First and foremost, don't leave anything exposed in your car," Guzman said. "The chances of being broken into are lessened if you don't have anything exposed."

Police statistics have shown a significant decrease in car burglaries and thefts so far this year, which Guzman said could be related both to public knowledge of how to prevent the crimes, as well as the implementation of California's "Three Strikes" law.

"There has been a decrease since the three strikes law has been put into effect," Guzman said.

"If you're convicted of two and you're trying for three, you're looking at 25 to life," he said. "That's not a very appealing picture."

DAVID HILL

LAPD reports that car burglaries are the biggest crime problem in the Westwood area.

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