Pacifica's Theft Crime Ring and the Pacifica Police Departments Inability to Solve It
Copyright Pacifica Police Watch

According to the Pacifica Police Department, the city of Pacifica has been plagued by a petty theft crime ring; and thus far the Pacifica Police have been unable to crack the ring. The Pacifica Tribune has reported many times that the Pacifica Police Department is currently working hard on solving the ring, but so far the results of all the hard work have had little to no effect on the rising rate of theft in the city. While the police sit at Denny's between the hours of 2 am and 6 am,  thieves roam around the city and take their choice of the pickings.  We are not talking about the Don Corleone crime family here, but rather, probably a small group of drug addicts working together to feed their habit. And since the City of Pacifica does not have any comprehensive drug programs for the addicts, the problem will only get worse. In this article I intend to present the reasons why I think the Pacifica Police Department are unable to solve this crime ring, and how they could easily solve it within a month. I will also extend my hand once more in an attempt to work with the Police Department in order to get this crime ring cracked. Hopefully the police department will get in contact with me so we can put the solutions presented in this article to use. I have already tried to get into contact with them many times, therefore, the ball is now in their court. Lets take a closer look at this particular crime ring, why the police are unable to solve this crime ring, and what methods they could use to solve it.

One would assume it would be quite easy to solve such an loosely "organized" crime ring, and one would be correct in this assumption; but in the city of Pacifica, where the Police seem to have a hard time directing traffic when the power goes out, it does not surprise me in the least that the Police department is unable to crack a petty crime ring. Make no mistake about it, this petty theft ring can have severe effects on your life. The thieves can steal your identity, use your stolen credit cards and checks, and cause a general sense of insecurity. Therefore, it is imperative that we catch these thieves and get them off our streets. But first, lets take a look at why the Pacifica Police Department is currently unable to crack this ring.

The answer as to why the Pacifica Police Department is unable to crack this crime ring has to do with the non-existent Community Policing methods the department should be using, and hence the lack of community involvement in solving crimes. It is well known to many that the Pacifica Police Department does not have a very good track record when it comes to working with the community. When was the last time you've seen the Pacifica Police talking to members of the community when it's not crime related? Have you ever seen a uniformed officer walking around the neighborhood getting to know the community? Of course the answer is an absolute NO! The police department does not employ community policing and does not work with the community to solve crimes. A few small changes in how the department operates could make a huge difference in how effective the department is in solving such crimes.

If you were to give me control of the Pacifica Police Department, I would have the crime ring solved within a month. I will also go so far as to say that I would lower the current crime rate in Pacifica drastically! But, I do not want to control the department, all I am looking for is a little cooperation. The solution to solving this specific crime ring is very simple. First, the Pacifica Police Department needs to work with the community. They should set up an anonymous tip system so people can send in anonymous crime tips to the police. I have tried to do this for the Police Department and have been ignored. The Pacifica Police Department seems unwilling to work with the community or outside groups. As an example, lets take a look at how they responded to an anonymous crime tip system I have set up on this site. About a month ago I sent the Pacifica Police Department an anonymous crime tip that I received through the Pacifica Police Watch website. To show their gratitude for the tip they completely ignored it, and did not respond or reply to my e-mail; not a single thank you, nothing! Therefore one can draw the conclusion that the Pacifica Police Department does not wish to work with the community or other organizations to solve crimes. They obviously do not think they need the help of the community, and in my opinion, are to egotistical to accept outside help. In addition to this example, I would like to share another example of how unwilling the Pacifica Police Department is to work with us. I have sent multiple e-mails to the Pacifica Police Department asking if we could work together in order to bring about positive changes within the department and for the community, and once again I was completely ignored. I believe this demonstrates how egotistical and narrow minded the Pacifica Police Department is. Therefore, the first hurdle would be finding a way to get past egotistical nature of the department in order to form a bond between the Police Department and the Community. I do not know if it will ever be possible to overcome this first hurdle due to the current policies and leadership of the Police Department; and I am completely out of ideas on how to overcome the ingrained Us vs. Them mentality of the Department. If we could get the local government involved, perhaps we have a chance. But, if somehow we are able to overcome this hurdle, we can move on solving crime through community involvement.

Community involvement is extremely important in solving any crime. If we wish to solve this "crime ring", and future crimes, we must involve the community. It is well known that many people do not report petty crimes such as petty theft. I know of two in my area which have not been reported. But, if the Pacifica Police Department was willing to work with the community and set up some way for people to quickly report the thefts (such as an anonymous tip line), we could get these people to quickly report the thefts and minor crimes in their areas, even if they don't wish to make a police report or press charges. The Police Department could then use this information to map out the areas in which the majority of these crimes occur, what days they usually occur on, and at what times they usually occur at. The police could then draw up a map and concentrate on the specific areas in which these crimes are being committed. In addition, since it is well known that criminals usually work in areas they are familiar and comfortable with and usually close to where they live and/or work, they could draw up a list of suspects from known thieves in the area. We can now put that information to good use.

With the involvement of the community we now have some very valuable information to work with. We know the area these crimes are most likely to be committed in, the times they are most likely to be committed at, and that the suspects are probably located or have ties in the immediate area. Now with this important information, the "crime ring" would be easy to track down and arrest. With the help of the community, the police could set up simple sting operations in the areas the crimes are being committed in. Minimal resources would be needed due to the fact we know where the crimes will most likely be committed, when they are most likely to be committed, etc. The police sitting at Denny's could handle the entire operation. Now we can catch the thieves in the act. But, to ensure we crack the entire ring, we must also keep the arrests under wraps.

In order to catch as many of the thieves as possible, and to increase the chances of obtaining a rat, the police should not report the arrests to the Pacifica Tribune as they usually do. They should continue to work the areas with sting operations for a few weeks and obtain as many of the criminals as possible, while trying to keep the arrests as quite as possible. This will help prevent the word from getting out, and only when they have completely cracked the case, should they report it to the Pacifica Tribune. Since the thieves are most likely drug addicts, they will have no loyalty to the others in the loosely tied drug ring. Getting them to talk would probably be a piece of cake.

I will not go into detail on what types of sting operations I would employ, for I do not wish to tip off the criminals as to what possibilities are out there. I am hoping, but not holding my breath, the Pacifica Police Department will contact me via e-mail and we can work on getting this crime wave solved. I will volunteer to help out any way possible. I know they read this site, and I know they do not like this site or the sites author, but I hope they are able to get past their own egos and work with us to get this crime ring cracked and the give the citizens of Pacifica a little sense of security again!

In this article I have demonstrated an easy way to apprehend and break up the petty theft crime ring in Pacifica. These ideas are not original and have been used in many cities across the Country. They are the basis of what has been termed community policing.  In addition, I have also given my opinion on why I believe the Pacifica Police Department is unable to solve this particular crime ring, and many crimes in general. If the Pacifica Police Department wishes to work in the best interests of the citizens of Pacifica, they will work with us (the community) to solve this crime ring and future crimes. Sometimes I wonder why I waste my time writing these articles, and perhaps it's a faint hope that I can have positive effect on the City of Pacifica.