This is a LOT of break-ins! Hey, Menlo Police, what are you doing about this?

It only takes 1-2 minutes to steal a laptop from a car. Patrols would help, but honestly, they can't do much.

*NEVER* keep your laptop and valuables in your car! If you must, store it in a locked trunk with a valet key.

Signs around town reminding people not to leave laptops/valuables in your car would help more. Public parks have started doing that. Tell/email your friends, relatives, colleagues, and visitors...

Cars are just too easy to break into.

This is all a result of Prop 47 which made auto burglary a misdemeanor. Now all the low level offenders let out of jail can make a living doing smash and grabs, and even if they are caught, its only a citation. Thus, our police don't really put any time into stopping/solving the problem.

People shouldn't leave valuables in their cars. It's common sense. It's like not putting valuables in your checked luggage when you fly. It's a no brainer. Frankly, I don't have a lot of empathy for people that set themselves up to be so easily ripped off.

Crimes against property merit little attention from police. After a home invasion in MP 30 years ago, an officer came to take a report but refused to even take fingerprints, despite clear evidence of the means of entry. Since then, for 2 separate car break-ins, I've had to go to Police HQ to file a report as officers would not come to my location.

Auto burglary & home break-ins (by jimmying a window) shouldn't be ignored & yes, we do have to hide valuables.

If we, as a society, look the other way and make excuses for theft of any kind, we will be doomed to more horrific crime. None of this should be excused because a car had valuables inside it. It is time to have a no tolerance policy for these crimes and the police should have an officer assigned solely to the downtown area to discourage these actions. One only has to read Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point to see how NYC took back their streets by having a no tolerance policy for the smallest of crimes.

' NYC took back their streets by having a no tolerance policy for the smallest of crimes.'

And they now kill people for selling single cigarettes. Changing the punishment has little effect on the motivation to act as a criminal or not. Nobody ever thought that if the death penalty was abolished, they'd more likely consider shooting someone. Motivation to steal from a car is not based on the limits of the punishment but the necessity of paying your drug dealer.