Law enforcement agencies in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Los Angeles are spreading the word about thieves from the Bay Area who are coming to the local area to burglarize cars, many belonging to tourists and others who may be unaware of the problem or the need to take steps to protect vehicles and valuables.

Det. Brent Hopkins, with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division, said auto burglaries are a continual issue because thieves know the local area attracts a large number of visitors, and there are a lot of parked cars. Authorities have also been aware for years that criminals travel from the Bay Area and other locations to Los Angeles to commit crimes because they believe long distances reduce the likelihood that police will be able to identify them.

Now, with modern technology such as high-definition cameras and shared databases, police have more tools to go after thieves. Using technology, and more efficient information sharing between police agencies, authorities said they have achieved recent successes in apprehending auto burglars from other parts of the state.

Lt. Scott Dowling, with the Beverly Hills Police Department, said the city uses a network of cameras throughout the city to identify the vehicles suspects use to commit crimes. Near the end of December, a group of suspects from Fremont, California, allegedly came to Beverly Hills and committed two auto burglaries, and later went to neighboring West Hollywood and allegedly committed 18 additional car break-ins. The license plate number from a vehicle allegedly used by the suspects was entered into a database and police in Goodyear, Arizona, later located the vehicle and took the suspects into custody. Dowling said the crimes remain under investigation and police from Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are in the process of preparing the case ahead of charges being filed.

“They rent cars and will travel 400 miles to commit crimes and return back the same day. For some cities, it can be quite a task [to locate the suspects] because of the distance. Since they are so far away, they don’t think a jurisdiction in Southern California will follow up given it’s a non-violent property crime,” Dowling said. “What makes us unique is the technology we deploy. We want people to know that we will go after folks in Oakland or wherever they are. We do everything we can to establish a reputation that if you do the crime, we will go after you.”

The same goes for personnel from the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, where investigators last fall made a one-day turnaround trip to the Bay Area to arrest an alleged auto burglar. That suspect was detained by authorities in San Francisco after his vehicle’s license plate was flagged as being from a car involved in West Hollywood auto burglaries.

“We ID’d him and police found him in the Bay Area, and our folks went up and got him,” said Lt. Bill Moulder, with the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station. “Just because they live out of town doesn’t mean we won’t go up and get them.”

Moulder estimates that thieves from outside the area are responsible for a significant number of auto burglaries in the city, where 593 car break-ins were reported last year. He added that cameras and technology play a role in finding suspects, which is priority for sheriff’s department officials.

Hopkins, of the LAPD’s Wilshire Division, said detectives there also surmise many auto burglaries can be attributed to thieves from other parts of the state. The only way to know if it is a trend is once the suspects are arrested, Hopkins said. He added that the auto burglaries are being committed by different crews, and police are deploying more resources and using other tactics like undercover units and helicopter surveillance to combat the problem.

Hopkins said during a single week in mid-December, approximately 80 vehicles were burglarized in the Wilshire Division during a period when the weekly average is around 30 burglaries. The vehicles were parked along major retail corridors like Beverly Boulevard and Melrose Avenue, and in shopping mall parking lots. He credited locations like The Grove and Beverly Center, which use the latest technology including cameras to monitor parking lots and can be pivotal in obtaining license plate numbers from suspects’ vehicles. Still, it can be hard to find suspects once they leave the area.

“I started seeing this around three years ago … but know it seems like a steady stream,” Hopkins said. “[They target] places where they know there is a lot of retail and there might be property left in cars.”

Capt. Steven Lurie, commanding officer for the LAPD’s Hollywood Division, said property crimes including auto burglaries are also a major concern.

“It is among the top crime fighting priorities for Hollywood in 2020,” Lurie said. “Violent crime is way down but we are definitely a property crime-related division. We are working hard to identify these guys and address the situation.”

Law enforcement authorities from all three cities said partnerships are key to addressing the crimes, and investigators have been working more closely when trends emerge and burglary sprees are identified. They also all added that motorists bear responsibility for protecting their vehicles and property. Valuables should never be left in plain sight inside vehicles, and doors and windows should always be locked.

“We really need the public’s help on this,” Hopkins added. “Be mindful. Whether you are a tourist or you live here, don’t leave anything out. We used to say valuables, but now we say anything, because we see this all the time. They are very brazen and nobody is immune to this. Protect yourself. And if you see a group huddled around cars in a parking lot, call the police. If you see something suspicious, speak up about it.”