jimtrue.com : school : CJT1110 : CH14: Burglary
Posted by Jim True on March 24, 2003 6:00 AM. Last Updated October 22, 2006 9:23 PM
Disclaimer for all material noted here is at the bottom of this web page.
Burglaries, Safe Jobs, similar to rape... once they get their M.O. down, they are going to stick to it. Modus Operandi (Method of Operation). Latin.
Method of Operation - trying to be comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. Rape is a good instance (going to attack a female and have sex with her; first time he does, he attacks her, she fights, he ends up knocking her unconscious and he can no longer have power over her, so it doesn't work). Finds what works for him and continues to use it.
Roofs are paper tissue thin (suspended ceiling). If you have a safe job where they've blown off the door but it hasn't damaged the interior of the contents, they really know what they're doing.
Dip pak, duplicast, mikrosil for tool mark impressions.
Points of Entry (P.O.E.) (Point of Exit - P.O.X.)
An experienced burglar attempts to gain entry by the easiest and safest entrance.
WINDOWS - Entry through windows. Double hung (bottom window slides up), 30 seconds to slide a knife through the crack and turn the lock.
Things to look for:
Windows, nicks, scratches, broken glass (on the inside) [some on the outside] Glass dust. If the glass dust is still on the sill, they didn't climb through the window. Take the shirt and pants for evidence (glass dust).
Same thing with Safe jobs (concrete dust is Safe insulation).
Check windows to see if locked or open, minimum of 2 pictures from outside and inside. With homicide, photograph and videotape EVERY window and every doorway from outside and inside. If you have a window open, process the window for prints, same thing with the screen (can get fingerprints off the frame of the screen).
If POE, will tell you how tall the guy is. Check for shoe tracks. Good investigator will be able to tell how many people were involved.
# of people: entry, shoe tracks, fingerprints.
Start thinking like the criminal. Figure out why he went the way he went; tell you a lot about this guy. S/B easiest and safest. There must be a reason.
False Alarms, biggest thing that will get a cop killed because they think it's a false alarm and it could actually have a criminal inside.
Hypothesis - educated guess (SWAG, scientific wild assed guess).
No forced entry anywhere, either has a key or inside job. Kid, owner or a locksmith.
Flashlight, awesome piece of evidence. (Batteries)
Doors:
Things to know: whether it was open or closed. Locked? Which side is the key on, which side does the key go on? (What side is the lock on). Some doors will lock behind you as you shut it. Will the door close; is the deadlock thrown?
[Older people dead-bolt on the floor]
Sliding glass door, glass in the door (reaching distance to the deadbolt).
Are the lights on or off? Which ones? Light switch hooked up to the light switch?
Check window shades? Opened or closed? Which ones? (pretty good prints off window shades). Guys will peek out the windows.
Odors - smell the house and check for unusual odors. You will smell cigarette smoke, there will be a cigarette butt somewhere. Phosphorous (match); used a match for light. Invented the lighter before matches.
Perfume or cologne, aftershave.
Other signs of activities - check to see if the toilet seat is up in a female's house. If it's down and wet spots, urine.
Did they eat? Did they prepare a meal? Did they drink a beer? Did they hurt themselves, get ice? (frozen peas - Cold cash)
Look for glass in the sink? Bottle on the counter?
Check and see if the house is clean or dirty.
Under no circumstances, no matter how bad the house looks 'it looks like they ransacked the place'.
Indicators - time/date
Mail, Newspapers not collected. Dates on the milk carton. Check the clocks (circuit breakers). Check for spoiled food. Check for room temperature. Check the phones. Cut the alarm wires/phone lines, run away and see what happens.
Dig through the garbage; photograph it. Crooks often will throw things away, cigarette butts.
Latex gloves (prints off the insides).
Papers inside the garbage cans, bite marks in food.
Actually make a match on glove prints. Can match matches to match book (fracture match).
Only a few places to get fingerprints on human skin (females: breasts, buttocks, face) Men: bald heads. must be naturally smooth skin.
Major burglary - business where it looks like they've cleaned out a lot of stuff and like they knew what they were doing. Go aways from the business:
1. Lookout
2. Casing
Look for things away from the scene. Home burglaries won't be so far away, businesses will be.
In the 70's call in a real bad accident (back in the days of only one car on the beat).
Ether, flashpoint 100 degrees
No age of a fingerprint (can't determine the age, or how old it is). No air current, no humidity, preserves the fingerprint. 3000 years in an egyptian tomb.
BURGLARIES OF CARS (STOLEN CARS):
Most stolen car is a car burglary. Actual car burglary, radio (dash, door, all four corners of the car, always walk up to a corner of a car, grab the corners). POE, (window/door). (Peekaboo, both sides of the hand, when peeking through the window).
Fingerprints have to come from the inside of the car to prosecute. Always close the door, how did they close the door?
Toughest area to get fingerprints, the steering wheel, fingerprints on top of fingerprints.
Car burglaries, burglaries of opportunity (most won't wear gloves, or do the sock thing).
Pawn shop.
Stolen car (stole it and drove it); rear view mirror. Seat belt buckle. Don't want the cops pulling 'em over.
When humid, hard to powder for prints.
Glove box. Fingerprint on paper, it is there forever (if you know how to process them properly). Usually last as long as the paper lasts.
Paper is one of the best things to get a fingerprint off (unless it gets wet).
Cigarette packages, butts in the ashtrays. (DNA costs too much)
A/C on or off? Windows up or down? Photograph all the way around. Stolen cars and burglarized cars. Stolen cars photograph all the way around. Always, get underneath and look underneath the car. Shirt wrapped around the drive shaft/human flesh. (Hit and run)
Look at the broken glass, pattern, cloth pattern. Most people that hit someone there car gets stolen somehow.
[Work for the victims]
[In 24 years, Four stolen cars with the owners in the trunk]
Check the trunk.
7 days for a body to float in Michigan (cold water so the body doesn't bloat).
SAFES:
Know what a safe is, know the different types of methods used to get into the safe.
Fake burglaries (inside job). Glass on the outside, or glass on right side, but didn't go through the window. Insurance fraud (most simulated burglaries). Kids want to rip off the parents.
Know the two different types of safes.
Ignorance of a safe man (when they show their ignorance).
Most safes have a secondary crime scene (usually haul the safe away from the primary crime scene). Take it into the woods, that crime scene will not be as careful.
GET SAFE NOTES FROM THE BOOK
The Torch.?
Know the toughest safe there is to get into.
FILMSTRIP:
Hinges loose on a fence (front chain was closed).
Rash of burglaries in the area; can life the fence up and enter.
Storage unit: screws removed on the door entry.
Officer's names, casing the officer's maneuvers. Police scanners. As a police officer, never get into a routine.
Crime Scene Safety (gloves, gas mask, body coverings.
Laser goggles for ALS.
Disclaimer: These are MY notes taken from classroom lectures while I'm in the classroom. While I'm perfectly happy to share my notes with my classmates and I know I take very good notes, you should still make every effort to attend the class and TAKE YOUR OWN NOTES. I will not transcribe everything the instructor says in the classroom, and I will NEVER post pre-exam reviews. My notes will not replace the value of actually attending class and taking your own class notes.I also cannot attest to their accuracy, other than they are what was provided in the lecture; you should not reference my notes as "expert opionion" by any means, and if you notice an error or omission, please do me the favor of e-mailing me with the correction and I will re-post my notes. End of Disclaimer.