Professional Burglars

[Jeff White]

Most burglaries are crimes of opportunity committed by people looking for an easy target and something they can quickly sell.

However, there are more sophisticated crews that work harder, higher value targets. I found this story about one such group currently operating in the Northeast:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/10...glarizing-homes-in-affluent-new-jersey-areas/

‘James Bond Gang’ Burglarizing Homes In Affluent New Jersey Areas
Cops: Thieves Operate With Hollywood Crook-Type Precision And Are Relentless
October 16, 2012 7:12 PM

CHATHAM TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — They’ve been at it again – a sophisticated burglary ring targeting homes in affluent areas of New Jersey.

The bandits, who are best known as the “James Bond Gang,” have hit dozens of homes in the past year.

The suspects’ latest break-in in Chatham Township was caught on video, as CBS 2’s Christine Sloan reported Tuesday.

With his face covered, one of the suspects – looking like a bandit right out of a movie – was seen on the surveillance video walking right up to the front door of the home.

Then, instead of kicking in the double door, he bumped it several times with his rear and busted it open. The purpose, more than likely, was to avoid leaving a footprint, police said.

Afterward, his accomplices made their way in.

The suspects were caught on video outside. But once they made it through the doors, they pulled the plugs on the cameras inside and dismantled the alarm system by ripping the panel out of the wall.

They did it all in just seconds.

The bandits mostly took men’s and women’s jewelry, as well as a high-end pocketbook, Chatham Township Police Detective Sgt. Maureen Kazaba said.

Police would not say how much jewelry was taken, but they were sure the burglars were connected with the so-called James Bond Gang.........Read the rest of the story at the link

The story doesn't say how the burglars chose their victims except to mention that one victim made it pretty obvious they were away. Many years ago there was a similar crew operating here in the midwest. They would come to town, hit their target quietly always taking jewelry and things like coin collections. It was theorized that they were using a small private plane to fly into the small towns they hit where they were met by an advance man with ground transportation, they would hit their one or two targets and disappear. I always thought they had someone on the inside at an insurance company because they appeared to know what they were looking for, homes weren't ransacked.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

lots of inside sources from bent insurance agents to folks at newpaper office who sell vacation lists. delivery drivers can find notes that say "deliver next door till next tues"
alarm company employees. its a long list. keep your private biz private

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

not to mention some of the jobs are set up by the homeowners as an insurance scam

 

[Certaindeaf]

I heard that in one area a burglar or ring was/is targeting Indian Americans.
It seems that they hoard more gold than the normal joe. Further, it was alluded that they are targeted via social networks somehow.

 

[scaatylobo]

Hardened look

Most of the pro's and even those that really trained,look for houses that do not have a dog past the size of 40 pounds.

They look for easy access,doors that open to a foot.

They look for NO alarms.

They want to avoid getting seen or caught.

I was LEO for 26 years and covered at least a thousand burglarys.

None had the above properly in place = NONE.

So my house has it all,and it looks "hardened".

 

[Certaindeaf]

It'd be cool if all cop houses were set up on the internet etc as juicy "bait houses".
I hate thieves.

 

[fallout mike]

Fortunately, most are the first type listed in the op. I've put security and surveillance cameras in thousands of houses, businesses, and churches the last 16 years. Most of these were unsecured until the break in. Very few customers have security before me. We get calls often from customers stating that their security system saved them from getting cleaned out. So based on my experience I would say that security and/or surveillance cameras goes a LONG way towards preventing your average burglar (which makes up 95% of burglars) from successfully robbing your property.

 

[huntsman]

I know a guy who got hit by a crew like in the OP, they knew when the family was gone (stake out) disabled the security system, only took jewelry, cash and silver. They found his hidden gun room and cracked it open like a nut, cleaned him out of a lot of classic firearms with sentimental value.

A nice house and a quarter mile paved driveway was the flashing neon sign of money.

 

[bikerdoc]

Scatylobo got it right in post 5.
I would also add sketchy extended family and their friends to the list of inside sources and perps.

 

[fallout mike]

Bikerdoc hit it on the head. Roughly 50% of all home breakins is by a "friend" or so-called family member.

 

[Pismopal]

Burglary

Just a note to correct the most common misconception about burglaries. Most residential burglaries are commited in the day when the owners are at work or school. A common MO is to loudly knock on the front door and if there is no answer and NO BARKING (with a deep voice) they or he will go to the rear or the door most hidden from view and force it with a foot or body slam. Some like channel locks to take off the door knob and lock. Loud alarms that are set off by movement in the house can be purchased at Lowes etc and they are a deterent..as is a dog and the most effective but expensive is an alarm company. Don't rely on neighbors..they mean well but generally won't see **** and if they do see they aren't sure what they are seeing and they won't know what to do. Please don't leave that pistol in your house that you think you need at night...it will be gone along with all the other smaller valuables...just sayin'. Broad day time is the burglary time.

 

[heeler]

fallout mike,I would like to see a link where 50% of home breakins are commited by friends or wayward relatives.
Having had my home hit three different times I can tell you in my case it was not a friend or a relative or friends of a relative.
Although I know this is probably the case at times but from my experiences it is part of the crime lottery and your house for reasons known to the burglars are chosen that day.
Could be because of the homes particular location or perhaps the mail or newspapers piled up while your on vacation or finally because your house and yard are all nice clean and tidy which makes them think nice things are also probably inside the home.
I can say this with positive exactness that Houston in the last few years has had around 1800 home burglaries a MONTH and I am more than sure half of them are not comitted by friends of relatives but rather low life cretins who do this to fuel their drug habits.

 

[fallout mike]

Heeler, I have no link. I get all kinds of statistics and studies mailed to our office on a very regular basis from numerous sources including the FBI statistics. I read that in some of this material. I've seen it first hand many many many times during my 16 years of being in the business. This may or may not be true but it is said in more than one study. This also includes any people that have been in your house. Im not going to try and prove stuff and find the info out of thousands of studies and security magazines and literature that I've been getting in the mail for 16 years and by the hundreds every year at that. You can believe me or not. I could care less.

 

[fallout mike]

Along with pismopel, 66% of home burglaries occur between 9am and 3pm when people are at work.

 

[heeler]

Hey guy I just asked and meant no disrespect towards you.
Again with the number of burglaries to homes in Houston,which according to the Houston Chronicles August 12,2012 article stated that the first six months of 2012 alone there 13,016 burglaries,up 4.5 per cent from the same time last year.
Obviously if you do the math that's 2,169 burglaries a month...Even more than I previously stated.
I would find it hard to fathom that half fell into the scenario you described.

 

[lemaymiami]

As first mentioned most burglaries are not done by sophisticated high end guys. Years ago I actually caught more than a few of them (usually kids). High end, skilled crews are a different matter entirely.... Most cops will go an entire career without a chance at catching pros...

In briefing the squads I put out on the street each day I'd regularly remind them that any teenager not in school during school hours was definitely worth a look. Any kid on a bike in a residential neighborhood during school hours was worth interrogating with a record filed (we called them F.I. cards) and they were always a prime resource for any detective that was working a case in the neighborhood where the kid was stopped... Fortunately, although minor burglaries were the most common occurrence - items taken were usually restricted to what the thief could carry. If it was a group of kids involved then heavy vandalism was often one of the signatures...

The typical signature for pros is entirely different. The hallmark is usually high reward with the lowest risk possible. Many heavy crews have serious affiliations with organized folks (and occasionally are actually directed by a member of one established group or other). They often have a whole range of spotters or steerers that look for opportunities, do some of the ground work then receive a fee or portion of the proceeds for their efforts. Spotters may run a wide range of apparently legitimate occupations.

One particular spotter that I knew some years ago was a professional bartender with a union card. He worked many a private party and was a first rate elderly bartender that appeared to be a straight guy. If his customers got to know him they'd find he was a former ice man for a bolita syndicate and also operated as a post office for visiting mob types (you're out of state due to local difficulties.. you went to him to collect your messages and for info on local suppliers, connections, etc.). To top it all off the name on all of his paperwork was his street name not the one he was born with.... "Georgie" would always be looking for places that looked good, and if he sold a deal on a house it was usually a few weeks or months after he'd worked a party there...

On the other end fo the scale there was a custom jewelry maker in Miami that had many wealthy customers. If he was interested in setting them up he'd carefully inquire about their insurance, home security, etc. He always appeared to very concerned for the welfare of his customers. If the deal looked right he'd call his associates who'd then pay the house a visit... As you've already guessed I'm just scratching the surface here and could tell these kind of stories until tomorrow....

The advice I'd give anyone is that high end rippers don't bother modest places where there's little chance of serious profit. As you go up the scale in wealth and property your profile becomes much more interesting to a pro. Keep your valuables in a safe deposit box - not at home. For those that collect firearms, consider limiting or reducing your collection - the nicer it is the more attractive to thieves... Lastly as you employ various security measures, don't just use one company. I like an extra system that's not obvious and easy to bypass (any competent security consultant can suggest a few extra surprises..)

I won't even talk about the less than 5% of burglars that are actually really violent bad actors. These are the kind of guys who are hoping someone is home when they come to call....

For most of us your best defense in nosy neighbors willing to call in a suspicious person or incident at your place. Encourage them and make a point of looking out for each other.

 

[Owen Sparks]

There was a burglary ring that operated back in the 1980’s out of a muffler shop. Customers would come in and sit in the waiting room while their cars were repaired. Most of the time they would leave their key ring with the employee who drove their car into the bay. If it was a late model luxury car the guys in the back would make a copy of the house key while the repair was being done. Meanwhile the man at the front desk would ask a few simple questions for the paperwork like your home phone number, your address, where you work, where your spouse works and when is a good time to call you at home ( remember, this was back before cell phones) If for example you told them that you worked at the bank and your wife was a teacher and you lived near the country club this would tell them that nobody was home between 9AM and 3 PM and you were a juicy target. They would wait a few months before their burglar made a phone call to make sure you were not at home then he would show up wearing a service uniform knock on the door. If no one answered he would simply let himself in with the key and take whatever he thought he could sell to his fence across the state line. This ring went on for years and only got busted because someone got arrested on unrelated drug charges and talked as part of a plea bargain.

Lessons learned:

NEVER give all your keys to a stranger. Take your car key off the ring.

Don’t give out too much personal information. It is none of the muffler shops business where your wife works or where you live.

Don’t give out your phone number to strangers.

 

[JustinJ]

NEVER give all your keys to a stranger. Take your car key off the ring.

That's good advise. I would also remove the garage door opener before turning in a car for service.

 

[beatledog7]

Just a little twist of lemon in the drink here -- semantically speaking, wouldn't a "professional" burglar be one who gets paid by someone else to burgle? That aspect hasn't been touched on thus far.

I would argue that if these guys are working independently: i.e., without a "sponsor" or employer who directs their activities, selects targets, routinely takes custody of the stolen items etc., they are no more "professional" than any run-of-the-mill purse snatcher would be. Sophisticated, it seems, but not professional.

 

[JAshley73]

This was posted up on Facebook by my local PD. Most of it sounds familiar, but the tip about the American flag was a bit of a surprise.

PLEASE read and forward to your friends. Tips from Burglars on ways to prevent YOU from being the next victim.
Detective ------ of the ----- County Sheriffs Office rode around his county today with a suspect of over 50 burglaries. He asked the suspect what made him choose the houses to burglarize. This was his response:

1. Looked for homes in rural areas that where
secluded or not easily seen by neighbors.
2. Looked for house with no cars in the driveway. If it looked as if nobody was home, they would knock on the door. If nobody answered, they would enter the home. If somebody did, they would ask for a made up name. Then leave.
3. VERY IMPORTANT: Of all the homes they "broke" into, nearly all where entered through an unlocked door or window. He said out in the country, they knew that people would open windows and doors to keep the house cool then leave and go out/to work.
4. They went straight for the bedroom for jewelry. Gold is bringing high prices and very hard to trace and there are a great many places to sell the gold.
5. They targeted house with attached garages. He said usually, the walk through garage doors were weak and people nearly always left the door from the garage to the house unlocked. Also, if they did have to bust in, the doors were easy and they were hidden from eyes by being inside the garage.
6. This one is actually kind of funny, they would not target homes that had an American flag flying. They felt that those that do, were patriotic, usually had guns, and if they broke into a house and if the home owner was home, they would get shot/killed.

Now, examine your home. Always lock your doors. Try to leave a car in view, if somebody comes to your door and asks for somebody that does not live there, try to remember a description, look for what type/color of auto, license tag would be great!. Call police ASAP! Beef up your door from your garage to your house. Hide your jewelry or put them in unlikely places. If you can not afford a good security system, trail cameras that hunters use are actually a good cheap temporary option. LOUD alarms. Burglars do not want the attention. One final thing, get an electric engraver, mark what you can with identifying numbers such your D.O.B, name, etc. Go through your house and take down all the serial numbers on items that have them. Take pictures of your valuables, put them on a thumb drive so that it can be easily updated. Now, if you are a victim, you will better prepared for insurance and the police will have a great advantage in tracking your belongings.

 

[xXxplosive]

This gang actually robbed homes around the block from me in my town and in the neighboring towns here in NJ.............hope they catch'em.

 

[FMF Doc]

A skilled group of dedicated crooks will find a way to defeat any security system. From what I have read, these were very upscale homes with modern security systems. They defeated the systems, got in, got the loot, and got out. They took steps to make sure they didn't leave any traces. These guys were good. You can deter the crooks that are oppertunists, but guys like these are almost impossible to stop. Not that we shouldn't all try to be hard targets, but if someone wants in bad enough, they will find a way in.

 

[Rail Driver]

I heard that in one area a burglar or ring was/is targeting Indian Americans.
It seems that they hoard more gold than the normal joe. Further, it was alluded that they are targeted via social networks somehow.

If any of you are familiar with social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Myspace, you're aware how easy it would be for a criminal to use as a source for targets - Most people that use the social networks tend to spew EVERYTHING about their lives on there right down to when they're going out around town (facebook allows check-in via GPS), when and where they are going on vacation, even more telling information can be gathered from photos. Also one doesn't necessarily have to be linked to their page in order to see their information.

 

[jawman]

Wondering how it would play out if a suspicious character knocked on the door and asked for a made up name of someone that doesn't live there, and you answer "Why yes, so and so is home. Who are you and why are you here to see him?"

 

[Rail Driver]

Wondering how it would play out if a suspicious character knocked on the door and asked for a made up name of someone that doesn't live there, and you answer "Why yes, so and so is home. Who are you and why are you here to see him?"

I don't know, but it would be very interesting!!