With an overall increase of about 11% in burglaries this year in Glendale, residential burglaries have further spiked over the last six weeks, particularly affecting neighborhoods in North Glendale such as Greenbriar, Royal, the Verdugo Woodlands and Brockmont, the Glendale Police Chief said Tuesday.
Throughout 2023, there has been an average of around 50 burglaries per month with about a dozen of those being residential, Chief Manny Cid said. Throughout October and November, the number of residential burglaries has spiked to about 18-20 per month.
“In our community, that [increase] is fairly significant and is certainly something that has grabbed our eye,” Cid told the News-Press. “This is not acceptable in Glendale, and we take this incredibly seriously. While my resources are not infinite, we are putting as many of the resources I have toward this, understanding that this is serious.”
In response to this increase, the department has created the Residential Burglaries Task Force, headed by Lt. Manny Fernandez, to pull together police resources such as automatic license plate readers, real-time cameras and helicopter flyovers, as well as increasing patrol in the neighborhoods most affected by the burglaries.
“We have our crime analysts working on this too. Every day they go over what the recent crimes were: Are there any patterns? What areas got hit? And then we use that data strategically to deploy our folks based on what the data is telling us, trying to take a data-driven approach to how we deploy our staff,” Cid said.
Cid said the “vast majority” of these burglaries follow a similar M.O. in which one or more perpetrators quickly enter and exit homes taking items such as cash, high-end bags and merchandise, and jewelry — leaving behind more easily traceable items like guns and electronics. They are entering homes by accessing unlocked back doors or windows, smashing locked windows and manipulating garage doors either by figuring out keypad codes or breaking into cars to use remote openers.
These incidents typically occur around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. now that it gets dark earlier.
“We are catching [the burglars] doing what we would call ‘casing,’ which is surveilling the area trying to get a feel for when you’re coming or going, when are the quiet times in the neighborhood, things of that nature, trying to hit at those moments,” Cid said.
Another tactic being used by the burglars is where they remove a license plate from a car in the neighborhood and place that plate on their own vehicle so their real license plate number is not caught on a security camera.
Cid said the increase in burglaries is not only affecting Glendale but is a regionwide issue and attributes some of these incidents to South American gangs.
“We’re seeing a significant increase of South American burglary crews that are coming into Southern California,” Cid said. “They’re coming up here in large part with the sole purpose to commit burglaries, residential burglaries, sometimes commercial burglaries.”
He also noted that while burglaries are up, violent crime, shootings and assaults are either steady or decreasing.
One Glendale resident and his wife were victims of an attempted burglary at their home in the Greenbriar neighborhood on Nov. 13. The experience was terrifying, said the resident, who asked only to be identified by his first name, Aram, out of fear for his and his family’s safety. His wife had been home alone when she saw a man trying to break in through their back sliding door. After making eye contact with the man, his wife screamed and ran out to the front yard to yell out for help, which scared the burglar off.
While Aram said he is grateful the break-in attempt did not escalate or become violent, he said the lasting impact of the incident has been difficult.
“I wish she hadn’t been home because she was devastated,” Aram said. “Still today, she cannot stay at home alone. She is deeply shaken. She’s scared to be home.
“This story could have been completely more tragic. We were lucky that she recognized the situation … but she could have been hurt or the whole thing could be different,” he added.
Aram began talking with neighbors and other people in the community and realized how many were suffering break-ins and safety concerns. He reached out to the city and helped organize a community meeting which, on Nov. 30, gave the 252 residents in attendance the opportunity to hear from Cid and City Manager Roubik Golanian on the city’s response to the situation.
In addition to the work being done by the Residential Burglaries Task Force, Aram urged city staff to take steps in implementing private security as an extra layer of defense against these burglaries at this week’s City Council meeting.
“Glendale used to be one of the safest cities in the states. This is our home, and we cannot tolerate this. City management has to come together with the people,” Aram said. “We are ready to work with the police and with our neighbors to watch each other’s backs and make sure that we always are safe.”
Golanian responded that he and Cid are looking at all possibilities to further mitigate the recent spike in residential burglaries. This includes looking into private security for targeted neighborhoods, however, he said this would not be a simple task and would take much more consideration before it could be implemented.
Cid also emphasized the importance of community outreach and understanding during this time, advising residents to lock their doors and windows, secure their homes, be mindful of lighting, stay vigilant and always err on the side of caution when met with suspicious activity.
This week, the City Council approved a resolution for upkeep and upgrades to police resources such as in car video systems, body-worn cameras, drones, interview room cameras and more.
“The truth is I want the criminals and I want our community to know the efforts we’re taking to educate them and the things that we’re doing … to catch these folks, to deter [burglaries] and respond to this,” Cid said. “We’re going to keep aggressively pursuing these folks.”
First published in the December 9 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
