 "Photo: Trent Barnes")
Lubbock's burglary rate was twice the national average in 2006, a nearly 15 percent increase from 2005, and the Texas Tech Police Department is warning that on-campus vehicle burglaries also are on the rise.
Col. Gordon Hoffman, deputy chief of the Tech Police Department, said he believes the 26 vehicle burglaries, reported on the Tech campus between Aug. 18 and Oct. 25, is an increased figure but did not have records accessible before this time period.
"Usually we have these in spells," he said. "We have a rash of them, and then we have a dead spell for a while. Somebody will get arrested, and they'll be out of commission for a while and then it will reappear."
Unlike vehicle burglaries in the past where windows are broken out, Hoffman said many of the recent vehicle burglaries on campus have involved the vehicles' locking mechanisms being "punched out."
"Usually they just smash and grab, but this may be more professional perhaps, but I don't know," Hoffman said. "It could possibly be more than one person, but that's hard to say. We just have to catch them to find out."
Though vehicle burglaries have increased on the Tech campus, Sgt. Clay Winters with the Lubbock Police Department said they are not a trend that contributed to the city's increase in burglaries in 2006.
"I know they've had more than we have, and I'm kind of thinking it's probably somebody that's living there on campus doing it cause I haven't had a whole lot of it," he said.
While he could not give a definitive answer for the city's increase in burglaries, Winters said the Lubbock Police Department has not grown in proportion with the city's population.
Lubbock's 2006 average of 1423.4 burglaries per 100,000 inhabitants is nearly double the national average of 729.4, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Report.
However, the rate of vehicle theft in Lubbock, 321.3 per 100,00 inhabitants, is approximately 19 percent lower than the national average of 398.4, according to the report.
Winters said he also was unaware as to why the rate of vehicle theft was lower in Lubbock, but he recommended people make greater efforts to prevent their vehicles from being stolen because certain part of town are more susceptible.
"The problem areas are generally down in the Depot Entertainment District area when the bars are open, and ,of course, any area where apartment complexes are prevalent are going to get hit heavily," he said.
According to the FBI report, other cities in the region had higher rates of burglaries than the national average, including Amarillo, with 1,281.6 per 100,000 inhabitants and Abilene, with 1,086.4.
Cpl. Jerry Neufeld with the Amarillo Police Department said his police department also has received additional reports of vehicle burglaries, including incidents where the "punching" method was used on locking mechanisms.
"More than likely, if they're punching the door lock, it's because they see something worth stealing," he said "There's different things, but from what we have seen, it's nothing more than a screw driver and a hammer that they punch literally drive it all the way into the lock, and twist and pop it out."
Some vehicles are more susceptible to that method of burglary, but Neufeld said he did not know exactly which ones.
He said the best method of protection a person can use to prevent a burglar from targeting his or her vehicle is not leaving objects like purses, lap tops and brief cases in the vehicle and avoiding "Magic Coat Syndrome."
"They'll take that purse or that laptop and then set it in the back seat and set a coat or a blanket over it, thinking 'Oh, well nobody will know what's underneath there.'" Neufeld said. "Well, all you've done is peaked the interest of every thief that walks by there and says, 'What's underneath that,' because they figure there's something and more times than not they're right."
Neufeld said he also recommends parking a vehicle in well-lit and non-secluded areas.
"It may be quicker for you to get to your car when you're ready to go," he said, "but if there's not anything else around it, then it's definitely a more likely target."
While many vehicle burglaries occur at night, Hoffman said some happen during the day as well.
"All they're looking for is an easy target, and whatever method they use," Hoffman said, "they're usually pretty quick at it, and they try to get away or have a major street close by where they don't have to do a lot of roads within the campus."
Hoffman said on-campus vehicle burglaries most often occur in the exterior parts of camps like commuter parking lots and near main roads like University Avenue and 19th Street.
He said while he is not aware of any suspects in the recent vehicle burglaries, a suspicious vehicle has been reported and information about the burglaries was posted on Techannounce on Thursday.
"It's just information more or less to tell the community that if they see a gold car that's acting suspiciously and if they've seen this Techannounce to give us a call," he said.
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