SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Police department launched their "Burglary Motor Vehicle Task Force" on November 30th in an initiative to crack down on thieves during the holidays. The city had already seen an increase in vehicle burglaries throughout the year.
KENS 5 checked in with SAPD Wednesday to find out what the first three weeks of work had looked like.
They'd been busy.
Sgt. Jerry Hernandez said the task force has currently arrested 30 individuals on one, or multiple, charges over the last three weeks. They've also recovered 23 stolen vehicles and 10 firearms.
Hernandez said most suspects were part of a group of several criminals that work together to hit multiple vehicles very quickly. He said the groups would typically steal a car, and then steal a different license plat to put on the car, before they started targeting vehicles.
"You have these individuals looking for volume. At highly populated areas so they have a lot of targets to go though," Hernandez said. "The majority of people that we deal with are highly organized and have pre-planned some of these things."
Hernandez said around half of the individuals SAPD arrested are actually repeat offenders who had been arrested before for burglaries or who were currently out on bond for another offense. That's important, because having multiple burglary convictions can significantly increase the charges and make jail time more likely.
"There is no shortage of work," Hernandez said.
The task force is comprised of 50 officers, sergeants, detectives from multiple divisions and SAPD moves resources to make the task force happen every holiday season. While it's not permanent, Hernandez said the task force did not have a specific end date at this point.
Vehicle burglaries happen quickly, with some criminals being able to get into and out of the vehicle in less than a minute, so catching those individuals can be difficult. Hernandez said 30 arrests may seem like a success, but the department knows there are many more bad actors still out there.
"That's a great number but that's just the tip of the iceberg. We've only caught some of these individuals. It's a very difficult crime to catch and spot," Hernandez said.
SAPD's task is still going to be out both though Christmas, and after the holiday, but Hernandez wanted to remind San Antonians that they still need to take precautions while shopping.
Presents, or returns, should be kept in the trunk of a vehicle, or somewhere else out of sight, so thieves won't be as tempted to break in.
Additionally, SAPD said drivers continue to leave their key fobs inside the vehicle and that often results in vehicles being stolen.
"A good portion of vehicles we recover, these guys have the key fobs with them because the owner left the key fob on the vehicle," Hernandez said.
Finally, Hernandez said drivers need to secure their guns when they are not in their vehicle. Guns are a top target for criminals and only Hernandez said only makes an officer's job more dangerous when trying to catch them.
"They are purposely going to take someone else's property and now they are acquiring a firearm. That just makes it more dangerous for not just the public but for the officers as well," Hernandez said.