Before doing a deep dive into East Cobb crime statistics, a Cobb Police captain reminded local business leaders this week of a simple preventive measure that’s not being taken enough to address a spike in one of the community’s recurring crime issues.
“People aren’t locking their doors.”
Not just their car doors, but also garage doors and residential entrances, leading to easy opportunities for burglary, theft and other offenses, according to Capt. Everett Cebula, the deputy commander of Precinct 4 in East Cobb.
On Tuesday, Cebula told attendees at an East Cobb Business Association breakfast that car break-ins—referred to on crime reports as “entering auto”—have gone up quite a bit in Precinct 4 since 2012, in residential communities, commercial areas and public venues like parks.
In 2012, there were 392 reported car break-ins in Precinct 4. That number jumped to 597 in 2016 and fell slightly slightly last year to 567 (see table at bottom).
Cebula said gym and fitness center parking lots are prime territory for thieves looking to plunder goods from vehicles, since patrons often leave valuables inside the car and in open view while they’re working out.
In a refrain to messages police routinely give during the holiday shopping season, he urged gym-goers to secure items even before they pull up into the parking lot.
“Take those items and put them in the trunk before you go into the gym,” he said.
Thefts also have gone up in Precinct 4 in the 2012-2017 reporting period. Burglaries—both residential and non-residential—also have gradually dropped since 2012, and more violent crimes, such as murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery, are fairly low in East Cobb compared to the rest of the county.
One measure police have been taking in recent years to crack down on car break-ins is the use of racketeering laws. That’s because they’ve noticed that these incidents are more frequently connected to larger criminal rings, or repeated activity by solo criminals.
If police can establish a criminal enterprise, they can go outside the county and track down break-in suspects and bring their activity into one case.
Lt. Brian Kitchens, the head of Precinct 4’s criminal investigations, said that last summer his unit was able to use what’s known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law—or RICO—to pull together more than a dozen cases for landscaping theft. The suspect in those incidents, he said, is still in jail.
He said “RICO goes a step further” and enables the judicial system to toughen punishments for repeated crimes.
He said another suspect was getting probation for car break-ins committed in various jurisdictions, but the use of RICO revealed that he had 55 such arrests, and a few more cases have been added. That suspect, Kitchens said, was offered a 20-year sentence, with 13 to serve.
Kitchens, who headed up the creation of a car break-in task force by Cobb Police in 2015, said RICO can be used to address other crimes.
He said police are getting more reports of break-ins at businesses like eyeglass stores, women’s clothing boutiques and specialty shops.
“We can expand this to protecting your business,” Kitchens told the ECBA attendees.
The table below has been compiled from Cobb Police data. The first figure in each box is for Precinct 4, and figures in parenthesis are from all of Cobb County.
Precinct 4 includes most of East Cobb, ranging from the eastern side of Canton Road to the Windy Hill Road area in the Powers Ferry corridor.
Part 1 crimes are the most serious and violent offenses against people and property, according to federal Uniform Crime Reports guidelines. They include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, theft, auto theft and arson.
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 Crimes | 1306 (8800) | 1335 (8506) | 1196 (8261) | 1245 (8695) | 1281 (8615) | 1264 (8204) |
| Crimes Against Persons | 78 (581) | 59 (526) | 72 (535) | 102 (658) | 99 (718) | 74 (638) |
| Crimes Against Property | 1228 (8219) | 1276 (7980) | 1124 (7726) | 1143 (8037) | 1182 (7897) | 1190 (7566) |
| Homicide | 2 (14) | 4 (20) | 3 (16) | 3 (17) | 2 (17) | 2 (24) |
| Rape | 19 (142) | 14 (114) | 16 (108) | 23 (140) | 21 (132) | 20 (137) |
| Robbery | 39 (405) | 31 (409) | 43 (392) | 50 (428) | 40 (449) | 35 (397) |
| Agg. Assault | 57 (425) | 41 (392) | 53 (411) | 76 (501) | 76 (569) | 52 (480) |
| Res. Burglary | 325 (2334) | 365 (1992) | 237 (1708) | 209 (1694) | 240 (1438) | 226 (1176) |
| Non-Res. Burglary | 127 (733) | 113 (652) | 105 (692) | 118 (732) | 87 (764) | 90 (685) |
| Entering Auto | 392 (2512) | 422 (2723) | 477 (3059) | 279 (4062) | 597 (3864) | 567 (4070) |
| Theft | 647 (3950) | 665 (4100) | 652 (3992) | 659 (4216) | 696 (4276) | 730 (4359) |
| Vehicle Theft | 90 (797) | 102 (827) | 87 (942) | 107 967) | 119 (970) | 109 (949) |
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