KANSAS CITY, Mo. — People living in the West Bottoms District in Kansas City, Missouri, are calling for increased patrols and security after a series of car break-ins over the last few months.
KSHB 41 News received several tips of smash-and-grab theft from people living in the area.
It isn't just one or two broken windows every once and a while, it's large numbers of cars hit at once in several lots, often all in one night.
Nearly a dozen residents echo what Chris Douglas, who lives in the West Bottoms, had to say.
They're seeing more and more broken glass, but an unchanging number of police patrols in the area.
"It’s out of control and there needs to be some attention paid toward it," Douglas said.
Some property management in the last month or so has turned to private security companies to secure lots for residents.
Steve Fanning, the chief of security for SK Security, is one of them.
He explained what his patrol crews have heard from residents, and seen on security cameras.
"Teams of people," he said. "What we've noticed is, that people will drive up in their vehicles ... They'll pull up to a parking spot, a group of four or five individuals get out."
Patrick Sparks, the company's chief commercial officer, says the uptick in security service requests usually follows big break-ins.
"It's definitely been picking up recently. I get anywhere from I'd say two to eight phone calls a day," he said.
Despite that, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department isn't receiving the same volume of calls and reports.
KCPD got a call and report from Douglas both times his and his girlfriend's cars were broken into, but not from several of his neighbors when it happened to them.
"Yeah so I reported both of my break-ins and even on our Facebook group for here, I've encouraged people to reach out, because even when I called they said that there haven't been a lot of reports," he said.
Not filing a police report when a break in occurs is the big reason for the discrepancy between what police are seeing on reports, and residents are seeing in parking lots.
So, why should you report if your car is broken into?
It won't fix the window any faster, but it gives police something to work with.
For example, in lots with multiple piles of broken glass evidencing past break-ins, police data only shows one or two reports in a month, and extra patrols only goes where the data goes.
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