Vehicle Burglary

Vehicle burglaries are unfortunately a frequent complaint in the 9-1-1 center. I worked in the era of CDs. The things cost about $20 a piece, and if you had a Case Logic book with 50-100 of those things in there, the loss added right up. Couple that with the frustration of losing a car stereo, having your car window smashed, and a big muddy boot print on your driver seat, and callers are often pretty hot when we pick up the phone. In fact one of the deciding factors in buying our van was that I couldn’t remember a single time I’d taken a report about a van being broken into.

“My car has been broken into again, and this is the third time this week!” yelled a young man. “The cops haven’t done anything, and now all my CDs are gone!”

I find the best way to diffuse a hostile caller is to jump right into the nuts and bolts of the call – it’s called “gap theory” according to the National Academy of Emergency Dispatch. I got his address, phone number, location of the vehicle, and his best guess of what time the burglary would have occurred.

“What type of vehicle is it?” I asked.

“A Suzuki Samurai,” he disdainfully answered.

“A soft top?” I asked incredulously.

“Uh, yeah.” There was now a sheepish edge to his voice.

“So your vehicle has been broken into two times already, but you left your CD case in a vehicle that can be accessed simply by cutting the canvas.” I confirmed.

“Yeah,” he replied. His indignation was pretty much all the way deflated by now.

“I’ll send them right over.”