Redmond Police Warn of Slight Uptick in Car Prowls, Residential Burglaries

The Redmond Police Department issued an email safety alert Thursday to let residents know about a slight increase in car prowls and residential burglaries.

From Oct. 1 to Dec. 12, 88 vehicle prowls were reported in the city. Over the last year, the average has been 33 per month, which is down about 35 percent compared to 2011, said Jim Bove, RPD spokesman.

Police have identified two "hot spots" for car prowls: downtown around Cleveland Street and Leary Way (18 prowls since October), and in Overlake near 148th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 24th Street (14 prowls). Bove provided the following insight in his email:

The general time frame is Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays between 7:00 p.m.-10:15 p.m. and they tend to occur near businesses where customers will be gone for an extended period of time. Most are “smash & grabs” (smash window, grab what you can) and they are targeting the usual—laptops, small electronics, etc., likely from people who have come from work. For crime prevention tips, visit: www.redmond.gov/PublicSafety/Police/tips.

Burglaries are also slightly up this fall, Bove said. The average has been eight per month over the last year, but there were 11 burglaries in October, 13 in November and eight in December through Dec. 10. 

The burglaries have all occurred during the day and are not limited to one part of the city, Bove said. Stolen items include electronics, passports, jewelry, cash and other items that are easy to get rid of quickly, he said.

Entry points are usually via door kick-ins, window smashes to rear sliding glass doors/windows, and window breaks next to front doors to access door locks. In a few of the incidents, victims were home and heard someone knocking and ringing the doorbell multiple times but thought ignoring it would make them go away. Once the suspects heard people inside, they take off running. Try to make contact with these people—you don’t have to open the door, just talk through it and tell them you aren’t interested. Let them know someone is home—they aren’t usually looking for a confrontation like you see on TV.

To sign up for Bove's email safety alerts, send him a message via jbove@redmond.gov.