About 150 people gathered on Zoom last week to hear updates on home burglaries in Atherton in the last two months, some of which are tied to Chilean gang members.
There haven't been any burglaries in town in February, but thieves took about $86,000 worth of goods during eight burglaries in January, according to the Atherton Police Department.
"They want nothing to do with electronics; they're a dime a dozen these days and too easy to track," said police Chief Steve McCulley during the meeting. "They're only after jewels, precious metals, high-end purses, shoes."
Burglars are steering clear of pawn shops since they feed in their goods into police software systems, McCulley said. Instead, they'll resell items to jewelers.
Police believe that home burglaries over the last year in Atherton — including the theft of $800,000 worth of jewelry reported stolen from a home on Dec. 8, 2020 — are linked to a crime spree in town in 2018 by members of a Chilean gang operating out of Southern California. McCulley said Atherton police were the first in the Bay Area to "connect the dots" and link the group to home burglaries in the area.
During the meeting, McCulley said gang members are entering the country in Miami using travel visas. He said the group seems to also be targeting wealthy communities in the Washington, D.C., area.
Atherton police are arresting about two to three burglary suspects a year, McCulley said. It is tricky because if the criminals return to Chile, police can't prosecute them, he said.
Recently, burglars are traveling in groups of about three or four and driving newer model SUVs, which help them blend into the community, said Cmdr. Dan Larsen. They're committing the crimes between 5 and 8 p.m. typically, he noted. They're not targeting any particular areas of town, but they do tend to gravitate toward homes on the corners of intersections, according to police.
McCulley said these thieves have the abilities of "ninjas or gymnasts," as they'll scale the wall of a home to break into a second story glass door or window.
He noted that the burglaries are likely not tied to recent thefts at high-end stores in the Bay Area, including recent incidents at stores in Palo Alto. He said Bay Area-based groups are likely committing those smash-and-grabs.
In neighboring Portola Valley there have been three burglaries reported this year, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, and two in Woodside.
No-pursuit policy and COVID arrest restrictions
For the last five years, the Atherton Police Department has had a policy not to chase suspects unless it's a violent crime, like a shooting.
"We have a no-pursuit policy for good reason," McCulley said. "You start chasing down the freeway, you hit another car or a pedestrian, and there's no way I can justify that."
Nearby Redwood City and Menlo Park police are allowed to pursue suspects, McCulley said.
There have also been restrictions about who police can book, because of COVID-19, he said.
Limitations, benefits of license plate readers
The town has 47 automated license plate readers installed.
The cameras are not always perfect at catching suspects though, McCulley said. Burglars are smart and pay attention to police technology.
One group of burglars, for example, stole a license plate from a Safeway lot in Menlo Park and mounted it to their car so they wouldn’t be connected to the crime, he said. However, the license plate readers have been able to help find a missing elderly person and solve an attempted murder case in the Lloyden Park neighborhood.
Patrol groups
Some 12 residents signed up for a new resident volunteer patrol. Residents who participate take a four-hour training that teaches how to look out for suspicious activity. Participants do not carry weapons, but get a vest to wear while on patrol, McCulley said previously, and they must commit eight hours a month to patrolling.
McCulley is hesitant to support a private patrol like some gated communities have.
"I'm not sure how effective it would be in addition to three or four officers going about town," he said.
TV, radio and newspaper journalists, including from a newspaper in Chile, have interviewed McCulley on the burglaries. The gang activity is garnering widespread attention.
"It's really important that word gets back to the suspects that Atherton is not a good place to come," he said.
Watch a video of the meeting and find burglary prevention tips here.
Comments
Registered user
Atherton: other
on Mar 1, 2022 at 10:36 am
Registered user
on Mar 1, 2022 at 10:36 am
>> McCulley is hesitant to support a private patrol like some gated communities have. "I'm not sure how effective it would be in addition to three or four officers going about town," he said.
This is actually absurd. Thieves are breaking into homes because they believe they are not going to be caught. If we had more eyes on the street, it stands to reason there would be more risk in committing crimes. The chief knows this, because in the paragraph above, he supports a "new resident volunteer patrol."
It appears that the chief doesn't want much lower paid patrollers (who also don't get pensions) to possibly supplant police officers. This is an irresponsible position to take when so many residents are suffering from property crimes.
In any event, private patrol doesn't supplant police officers. They're not armed, they don't make arrests, they're not trained in police tactics. They're just driving around town – constantly – and reporting anything that looks suspicious to the police to check out.
Moving on to the no pursuit policy for non-violent crimes, at the meeting, the chief said he didn't want innocent bystanders hit by cars in a high speed chase, and while this has some merit, it begs the question of why Menlo Park allows it. Presumably, an officer can use his or her judgment, and pursue if it is safe to do so (such as the middle of the night with no one on the streets) or not.
But, more troubling is that the Almanac is leaving out that when pushed on this issue during the meeting, the chief admitted the "no pursuit" policy extends to foot pursuits also – unless authorized by a supervisor. By the time this occurs, the crooks are gone.
The town council should be examining and questioning assumptions that haven't worked for Atherton in reducing crime. In particular, the reluctance on the police department to cooperate with private patrol – which seems to be motivated (misguidedly) by self-preservation – is not a stance the council should accept
Registered user
Menlo Park: South of Seminary/Vintage Oaks
on Mar 1, 2022 at 11:20 pm
Registered user
on Mar 1, 2022 at 11:20 pm
We had a burglary in our Menlo neighborhood using the same modis operendi on the evening of Jan 25th. The good news is that the Menlo Park police were there within 5 minutes of being alerted and only missed cutting off the escape vehicle by about 10 seconds. The MPPD did pursue, leveraging Atherton PD as scene backup. The bad news is that the 4 person burglar team escaped and the plate on their Infiniti sedan was stolen. Unfortunately, it seems like reporting and police intelligence on this string of crimes is fragmentary across jurisdictions.
Registered user
Atherton: other
on Mar 2, 2022 at 10:51 am
Registered user
on Mar 2, 2022 at 10:51 am
Well, there you have it. On January 25, MPPD came very close to catching these crooks through a sensible pursuit policy. 10 seconds, they would have been in jail. Word will get out. No such "I came within 10 seconds to years in jail" lessons can be learned in Atherton. No such chatter amongst thieves will occur. We're paying a huge amount for a police department that will not pursue criminals. It's crazy.
Registered user
Menlo Park: other
on Mar 2, 2022 at 6:34 pm
Registered user
on Mar 2, 2022 at 6:34 pm
Thoughtful:
and still almost no one in Atherton uses their alarm systems. Imagine you had something in your home, like a lock, that would greatly reduce or prevent burglaries, but you never use it. You want to blame the police?
Registered user
Menlo Park: Menlo Oaks
on Mar 2, 2022 at 6:43 pm
Registered user
on Mar 2, 2022 at 6:43 pm
Atherton needs a police department as much as Hillsbourough needs one. They should all be outsourced to the Sheriff's Department. This would save huge amounts of money.
Registered user
Atherton: other
on Mar 2, 2022 at 8:20 pm
Registered user
on Mar 2, 2022 at 8:20 pm
Menlo Voter: I agree with you. If a homeowner doesn't use their alarm, and get robbed, that's not on the police.
At the community meeting, the chief admitted about half the burglaries were from homes that had their alarm enabled.
My point is, Atherton doesn't have violent crime, or any violent crime other than outlier incidents. Thus, as a practical matter, the police are never pursuing criminals. For violent crime, there basically isn't any. For non-violent crime, their policy is not to pursue.
This isn't the correct policy for a community that is suffering from rampant break-ins. We pay a lot of money for the police department. What are we actually paying for?
Change the policy. Menlo Park pursues. Pursuing will help the residents.
Get private patrol to augment (not replace) the PD (with the correct policies in place to maximize our investment).
Registered user
Menlo Park: other
on Mar 3, 2022 at 7:45 am
Registered user
on Mar 3, 2022 at 7:45 am
Thoughtful:
If you're going to bring in private patrols, which is a good idea, you might as well outsource the police department to the Sheriff. The town, by last calculations I saw, would save at least $2 million a year and would cease to have a growing pension obligation. But the residents never want to do this. Why? I suspect I know the answers and it isn't very complementary to the residents of Atherton.