Police at the Greenfield police department have detected an unusual rise in the number of burglaries in their area of operation. However, the nature of the burglaries has odd characteristics. In almost all burglaries, only small items and petty cash are stolen. In addition, burglaries happen when people have already come home from their work.
This means that the burglar who is stealing from homes is not the usual kind of burglar that one would suspect. Police on patrol have noted the pattern of the burglaries. It also happens that some of the police officers on patrol have also been in the same area, but have not noticed the rise in cases of burglary. This means that the burglars have a precise pattern they follow when breaking into homes.
The prime suspects for the burglaries are high school students. The students are loitering near an entertainment spot during the day. It seems the high school students are undisciplined since they do not attend school during the day. Since a professional burglar has been ruled out in the cases, there is a reason to suspect that the burglars are high school students. The school is the most appropriate starting point. Lieutenant Johnson, who is in charge of police in the area, decides to handle the case in a different form from the normal procedure manner for burglaries.
The most appropriate point for the police officer to start with is the school administration. The police officer should personally contact the school authorities concerning the burglaries. It is important to counter the burglary issue before the students are arrested. It is also important for the school administration to grant the police officer a chance to have a forum with the students so that he can caution them on the risk involved in engaging in such activities as burglary.
Since whoever is responsible for the burglaries is among the students, he or she will be automatically notified that the police are aware of the incidents. The interest of the police in the matter may deter the students involved in the burglary from engaging in such activities.
Once the lieutenant has contacted the school authorities over the issue, he can then invite the concerned parties to the scene of a crime so that they can see the nature of the crime committed. The high school principal and the residents of the locality where the burglaries have been taking place may be helpful in identifying the particular students who were involved in the burglary incidents.
The principal in particular can provide the record of the students who are usually absent from the school at the time the burglaries occur. On the other hand, the residents of the affected areas can provide information on whether there is any young person of age in the range of the students who have been seen in the area looking particularly suspicious. It is important for the police if they found any eyewitnesses of the event or a part of the event.
An entertainment house or a chain of entertainment houses could be the cause of the problem. If some high school student has been passing their time near an entertainment spot during the day, then it is likely that the students would need extra money to spend on the entertainment. This could have led them into the burglary activities being experienced in the area. Enforcing the laws that prohibit the management of the entertainment spots from allowing children and particularly high school students from entering their premises could solve the problem. This will stop further burglary incidents in the area.