Most folks would expect life to get back to normal with some zeal after a pandemic. Instead, petty crime has had a notable spike in 2021 and 2022. Normal expectations tend to see some level of crimes of opportunity.
Then the next level is larceny with some form of breaking in. And the most serious level involves robbery, where someone is actually threatened during a theft.
However, what has happened over the last year or two is an insane amount of smash and grab, violent damage and stealing.
The most common targets for smash and grab are cars and homes. Both of them share one specific aspect that makes a given location more appealing than others: windows that thieves can see into to determine the contents.
The fact is, standard car and home windows are designed with clarity. It works fine for the owner inside looking out, but the same benefit works just as well for thieves looking in to see their next illegal reward.
No surprise, the term “smash and grab” literally means smashing that same glass for quick access and theft.
Why the Spike in Smash & Grab Crimes?
A combination of events are being blamed for the theft conflagration now plaguing most urban and suburban locations of the U.S. No state is an exception.
First, a social movement to defund the police thanks to high-profile police shootings and related deaths turned the political arena against police, who in turn started backing off proactive patrolling.
Second, protests gave license to vandalism and crimes of opportunity, which smash and grab fits into nicely.
Third, penalties for petty theft, stealing property valued less than $8,000 or similar, were reduced, basically making getting caught and arrested meaningless for habitual thieves.
Finally, high demand for electronic goods and shortages of imports drove up demand for used products, which in turn drove up demand for stolen goods resold as well. The overall mix has created a social behavior fire with kerosene dumped on top of it.
The fundamental nature of a smash and grab is also its vulnerability. The crime is focused on speed and quick reward. Anything that involves serious work, involvement and extended time doesn’t work. Eventually, people do get caught and, in some cases, can get more than arrested. They can be hurt or shot by a homeowner, for example.
Getting arrested enough times with the wrong property or combined with other activities could trigger a felony charge, which would actually put someone away for a number of years in a state prison. So, only those thefts that can be done quickly, under a minute at the longest and return a significant reward for saleable goods make sense. No surprise then, visible targets are the key.
The solution is in blocking the view. Window tinting goes a long way in making it impossible or very hard to see easy targets for smash and grabs. And if a thief doesn’t know what to expect inside, he’s less likely to engage in a theft that could turn ugly or may turn out to be nothing worth the trouble of the crime. Tinting creates a visual and practical deterrent, and thieves don’t like difficulty. Instead, they will more often pass and look for another target where they can see the odds clearly.
Window tinting is not hard, it can be applied to homes, offices and cars, and it's effective at a practical level. To find out more, call our specialist team at SunsetGlassTinting. We'd be glad to show you our product in action, our service line, and what's possible. Don't be a crime statistic. Control your potential property risk proactively.
