BURGLARIES

Private detectives are frequently called upon to investigate burglaries of banks, offices, stores and residences. If the burglary has been committed in the city or in the country, or in a large or small town, the detective who investigates the case should proceed to the place as soon as circumstances will permit. If the burglary presents the appearance of having been perpetrated by outside parties, a thorough investigation should be made and nothing overlooked. I know of dozens of cases of burglary in small towns in which no results were secured because of the fact that only perfunctory investigations were made, and these were not conducted along proper lines. In cases of burglary, especially where safes or vaults have been dynamited or wrecked with nitroglycerine, the detective should conduct an investigation along the following lines:

Notes should be taken and a record made of the name of the bank, store, firm or individual suffering the loss; the date and hour that the crime was committed; date and hour discovered; by whom discovered; and a descriptive list should be made of all articles known to have been stolen. If the theft consisted of cash, the respective amounts of gold, silver or currency should be ascertained. If possible, secure the numbers of any missing bills. If papers, checks or negotiable notes or securities have been stolen, banks or other places where they are liable to be cashed should be notified promptly.

A careful investigation should be made as to how entrance was gained to the building. If a safe or vault has been blown or opened, note should be made of the name of its manufacturer, whether or not the safe or vault was old or new, whether equipped with double or single doors, whether opened by key or combination, and from whom it was purchased. Note should be made as to the kind of explosive used, or if tools were used. If holes were drilled it is important to ascertain the exact size, and if possible the kind of drill used. If other tools were used the detective should endeavor to establish their nature, which usually can be done from the marks left by their use.

Professional burglars nowadays do not travel from place to place with tools on their persons, because suspicion might be aroused or arrest invited for carrying them. They often purchase or steal their tools locally at some hardware store or blacksmith’s shop a few hours before the time set for the burglary. The detective should endeavor to establish, at least to his own satisfaction, whether the burglary is the work of a professional or an amateur; also if any known burglars or “yeggs” live in the vicinity where the crime was committed. If so, their most recent movements should be traced and checked up. If possible, names should be secured of any persons who may have been seen loitering in the vicinity. If the names of such persons cannot be learned, detailed descriptions should be secured.

If the burglary has been committed in some small town, the hotel registers should be looked over and any doubtful persons investigated. Finger and foot prints and measurements should not be overlooked, providing any are found at the time of the burglary. Photographs should be made of finger prints and measurements made of foot prints. Professional burglars, or persons representing them, disguised as umbrella menders, peddlers or beggars, often visit and look over the place it is proposed to burglarize. Any such persons should be given consideration by the detective in the course of his investigation. Proprietors of nearby garages and livery stables and their employees should be seen and interviewed; also ticket agents and section hands on any nearby railroads. Conductors and crews of passenger and freight trains should be interviewed; also crews of street cars. If any known criminals likely to have committed such crime are believed to have been in the vicinity, their photographs should be shown to nearby residents and others. Should a photograph be identified, the detective will have something upon which to work.

When taking descriptions of criminals or of suspects, the following details should be embodied, if possible to secure them: Nationality; age, height, and weight; color of hair, color of eyes; build; complexion, whether smooth shaven, moustache or beard; moles, marks or scars; kind of clothing worn, including hat and shoes; whether or not the person walks or stands erect or stooped; any jewelry or lodge emblems worn, and whether he has the appearance of being a business person, a clerk, a mechanic, or a laborer.

In cases of thefts of jewelry, silverware, clothing, etc., from private residences the detective should first endeavor to establish to his own satisfaction whether or not the theft has been committed by an outside party, or by some member of the household. If it is believed that some member of the household is responsible, a servant for instance, such persons should be questioned closely regarding their movements, when they last saw or handled the stolen articles, if they knew of the existence or location of them, what they were doing and where they were about the time the theft must necessarily have been committed, etc. A descriptive list of the stolen articles should be made up, and if the same consists of jewelry, silverware, cut glass or clothing, pawnbrokers and proprietors of places where such articles would likely be disposed of should be seen and questioned. A descriptive list of the stolen articles should be left with the proprietors of such places and arrangements made to be notified promptly in case any of the stolen articles are offered for sale or appraisal.

I recall having investigated for a bank a case which was at first believed to have been one of burglary from the outside. The bank had in its employ a well educated foreigner, who was in charge of the bank’s foreign department. In order to conduct the business of this department of the bank, he was permitted the use of five hundred dollars in cash, and for which amount he was of course always responsible to the bank. The “burglary” was discovered about 7:00 A. M. on a Sunday by the colored janitor when he came on duty to clean the banking rooms. The “burglary” having been committed in the foreign department, the foreign manager was among the first to be called to the bank. When he arrived he recalled that he had neglected the night before to lock into the vault a tin box in which he kept the five hundred dollars extended him by the bank. This box seemed to have been broken open during the night and was found lying on the floor empty by the janitor.

I was called into the case the following day, and a few minutes after arriving at the bank the foreign manager called me aside and told me he suspected the colored janitor, and that I would do well to confine my attention to him. He, however, could give me no plausible reason for suspecting the janitor, which fact caused me to become suspicious of the foreign manager. I then began an investigation as to how the “burglar” had gained entrance to the premises, and found that a large transom over a side door had been forced in, seemingly from the outside; also a wire fly screen covering the transom space had been forced loose, which would have permitted any ordinary sized person to then have gained entrance.

The transom was held rigid and in place by a heavy metal side fixture, and I still recall distinctly having wondered at the time how a person could have possibly exerted sufficient pressure or force against it from the outside to bend double the heavy metal side fixture, and to have accomplished it without attracting the attention of police or other persons. After studying the situation from all angles, I obtained a ladder and examined closely the ledge over which the “burglar” was believed to have climbed. Between the transom and the outer edge of the transom frame, where the fly screen was nailed, was a space perhaps six inches in width, and which space was thickly covered with dust. I examined it closely but failed to find any finger imprints, or any other marks that would necessarily have been made by a person climbing through the transom.

I became convinced that the foreign manager was guilty. He was the last person to leave the bank on the night of the robbery. It was quite plain to me then that before leaving the bank he broke open the tin box, appropriated its contents, then pulled down the transom from the inside and loosened the fly screen to make it appear that a burglar had entered from the outside. I brought my discovery to the attention of the officials of the bank, who agreed with me that no burglar had entered from the outside. I then took the foreign manager in hand and recounted to him how I believed that the entire matter had been planned and executed, that the same was all very clever with but one exception—that being that he had neglected to take into consideration the coating of dust on the ledge. I told him, in the presence of three officials of the bank, to turn over the stolen money, which he did, but he was not prosecuted and the case was given no publicity. In this, as in practically all cases, it will be seen that the criminal, no matter how carefully he plans his crime, usually leaves some clue by which he can be detected, and which clues, as a rule, can be developed by thorough investigation on the part of the detective.

By permission of the Current Literature Publishing Company, we quote from the May 1915 number of “Current Opinion” an article dealing with the technique of crime according to Inspector Cornelius F. Cahalane, a noted instructor of detectives, appointed to the metropolitan police force of New York:

“Practically every burglary is prearranged and the details planned. Burglars guard against the ordinary precautions which they think a live policeman will take to prevent their crimes or to capture them. Do not imagine that every burglar or thief wears a peak cap, box coat, sweater, striped trousers or bull-nosed shoes, so typical of stage burglars. They realize that to dress in such a manner would arouse immediate suspicion, and, accordingly, dress and carry themselves in a manner least likely to attract attention. They do not, as most persons fancy, carry burglary tools on their persons at all times. They know that it is not only a violation of the law, but that it is circumstantial evidence as well. Hence burglars carry tools no longer than is absolutely necessary. Sometimes they hide their tools near the scene of the contemplated burglary. If they have tools in their possession and think they are going to be searched, they will try to hide them or throw them away. Tools are carried frequently in musical instrument cases.

“There are many different types of burglars, who resort to various means in plying their calling. The burglars most dangerous to society are those known as ‘Dutch house men.’ They are the most desperate. They always work heavily armed and to accomplish their purpose or to avoid capture will take life under the slightest provocation. They usually operate in an inhabited dwelling, and to gain entrance, secrete themselves in some part of the building or grounds until they think the occupants have retired; then, if necessary, they make their way to a roof, fire-escape or porch, and get in by prying open a skylight or jimmying a window sash.

“As a rule, householders fasten windows leading to fire-escapes or porches, but are careless about the other windows. ‘Dutch house men’ know this failing and often take advantage of it. They fasten one end of a rope (which one of them may have carried wound around his body) to a chimney on the roof and drop the other end over the ledge. One of them will lower himself to the desired window, open it and enter. They generally seek the place where it is most likely that valuables have been left before the owner retired, such as the tops of dressers or the pockets of clothing. In going from room to room, they usually place some obstruction, a table or a chair, in such a position that if the occupant should awaken and attempt to leave the room, he would trip over the object and make enough noise to warn the burglar that his presence had become known. Unless they are sure that no alarm has been given, they will seldom leave by way of the street; usually they secrete themselves on the roof or in the back yard and remain until there is an opportunity to escape.

“Flat thieves are not as desperate as the ordinary run of burglars, but they are burglars too, and they manage to steal considerable property. As a rule they will not enter an apartment while anyone is at home. They profit by the knowledge that housekeepers generally hide their money and valuables in a nook where they think a thief will be least likely to look—under rugs, legs of tables, under mattresses and beds, in sewing machine drawers, and the like.

“A flat thief requires only about five minutes in an ordinary flat, and when he is through it looks as though an earthquake had shaken the building. He starts by pushing the furniture to one end of the room. He turns the rugs over, empties the contents of bureau drawers into the middle of the floor, where they are examined, throws mattresses to the floor, cuts them open if he has not already discovered the hiding place, turns vases and bric-a-brac upside down, and, in this way, has every part of the flat searched in a short time. Flat thieves are usually young men between the ages of sixteen and thirty years.

“They gain entrance by ringing the vestibule bells, and, if no response is made, they assume that no one is at home, and enter the hallway and proceed to the apartment selected. If the door is locked they either use a false key or jimmy it open. Or, they may watch persons leaving their apartment, and enter during their short absence. If questioned, they try to represent themselves as peddlers, agents, inspectors of telephones, gas, water or electricity, or mechanics. They usually bundle together the proceeds of a theft and carry it to the street, passing through the halls with an air of bravado, so as not to excite suspicion. They generally work in pairs; one standing in the hallway to warn his partner of the return of the tenant, and, in case the thief is pursued, to trip the person in pursuit or to divert him in some other way. They seldom leave a house together, but usually meet at a distance from the scene to dispose of the property and divide the proceeds.

“Many flat thieves work by hiring a room or rooms in a residential section of the city and as near the roof as possible, particularly where the roofs in the vicinity are of about the same height. They use scuttles and fire-escapes as a means of getting into buildings and convey the plunder over the roofs to their rooms. In this way they avoid the danger of being detected in the street.

“More ambitious than the flat thief, but in something of the same class, is the loft burglar. Loft burglars are the most feared by merchants, for when they make a haul it is usually a big one, amounting to thousands of dollars. They are necessarily the brainiest of burglars for the reason that their work requires more and better planning. Plans are often made weeks in advance.

“A loft is selected after a study of the location and the quantity and quality of the stock carried in it. Weeks are then spent in becoming familiar with the habits of persons who might be in a position to thwart or discover them, particularly the watchmen and patrolmen on post, and the customary time of opening and closing the building, noting the person to whom this duty is entrusted.

“A Saturday afternoon or night is generally selected for the entry. Sometimes it is necessary to gain entrance through a building three or four doors away and clamber back over the roofs. When the loft selected is reached they do not hesitate to cut through a wall to get one of their number in it; if necessary they will drill through the floor from the loft below or through the ceiling from the one above, lowering the first man down with a rope. The door of the loft is then opened from the inside if the circumstances warrant it. The loot is carefully selected from the most valuable stock. Packing cases are constructed from material lying about, filled, and nailed shut.

“They are now confronted with the most difficult task, that of getting the packing cases from the building. The property is seldom moved at night. They fear that the appearance of a vehicle at an unusual hour in a section of the city where lofts are located would arouse suspicion. Instead, if as a result of their previous study, they know that the loft will be opened at 7:30 A. M., a vehicle will be brought to the front of the building at about 7:20 A. M., the door opened from the inside by one of the gang dressed as a porter, and in the most bold and daring manner the cases will be loaded on the wagon. One of the gang may even engage the patrolman on post in conversation, possibly within sight of their activities. The bogus porters, if the circumstances necessitate it, will go back into the building and escape by way of the roof or through an adjoining building.

“Safe burglars know as a rule the particular make of each safe on which they intend to operate. Like loft burglars they plan far in advance and come prepared to break through any part of a building in order to get to the safe. They have been known, when working in an exposed position, to make a pasteboard safe, paint it to imitate the original, shove the genuine safe into an inner room and leave the substitute in its place. Others do not resort to this subterfuge, but simply bodily shove the safe into a position where they can not be observed from the street and begin operations. They try not to use explosives. The easiest way, the combination, is tried first. If this fails, the weakest part, the bottom or back, is tried. The ordinary safe is turned upside down and the bottom or back is cut out with a tool they call a ‘can opener.’ If the bottom or back resists, they drill a hole near the combinations and try to disturb the tumblers sufficiently to turn the lock. As a last resort a hole is drilled and charged with explosive. To deaden the report the safe is wrapped with material found on the premises or with blankets brought along. A lookout is usually stationed on the outside to signal in the event of peril. Safe burglars, like burglars who break windows or side lights, wait for the rumble of a passing vehicle to deaden the sound of an explosion.

“Store burglars generally gain entrance through a rear or side window. They travel in gangs of two or three, one always on guard, and steal from the till, cash register or small safes. They, too, have their work planned in advance, and know just what to do when they enter. The loot is seldom removed through the front of the building; it is carried through the rear yards or over the roofs of an adjoining building and thence to the street.

“If the booty is too bulky to transport on their persons, a push cart is hired or stolen for the purpose, or a milk or baker’s wagon is pressed into service, sometimes with the consent of the driver, and the goods moved early in the morning, during the hours when milkmen and bakers are making their deliveries, so as not to excite suspicion. Burglars who break store windows and side lights work in pairs and are very tricky. Their outfit in most instances consists of a long piece of heavy wire and a heavy piece of cloth, such as part of a bed comforter, which they carry wrapped about their bodies.

“A store is selected which displays articles of some value in its windows. The habits of the man on post are learned, and at an opportune moment during his absence they will throw a padded brick or iron through the window or side light, having first placed the comforter on the stoop or walk to catch the broken glass and deaden the sound. Or, they may use a glass cutter to remove a section of the window. This step accomplished, they dart into a nearby hallway and wait to see if the breaking of the glass has attracted attention. If they find it has not, operations are resumed and the contents of the show-window extracted by means of a stiff wire, the tip of which has been bent into a hook. The store selected is often covered by the crooks for hours, sometimes from an adjoining precinct or post, awaiting a suitable opportunity.

“The sharpest and most successful burglars of late have been foreigners, some of whom can not speak English. Their favorite method is to select a residence along some street-car route, enter it during the daytime, if possible, and remain secreted in areaways, back yards or on roofs until night, then force an entrance through a window, door or roof scuttle when the occupants have retired. After securing the plunder they open the front door and wait inside until a car passes. Then they run out and board a moving car, watching meanwhile to see if they are pursued. Sometimes they ride almost to the city line before getting off. They are afraid that if they pass a brightly lighted street corner they will be observed and for this reason they use the street cars.

“If there were no receivers of stolen goods there would be but little burglary of these or any other kinds: A thief will not steal unless he knows that he can make some profitable disposition of his haul. It is comparatively easy to dispose of jewelry, but a thief must know positively where he can immediately dispose of bulky property that he cannot readily conceal. Usually such stuff is immediately sold to unscrupulous dealers who carry goods of the same kind in stock; for instance, a quantity of stolen cloth may be sold to a dishonest dry-goods merchant. In some cases, however, a store or flat is rented in advance of a burglary or theft and the loot stored in it. The receivers are then visited in turn by the thieves, shown samples, and bids are requested. In this way they dispose of the goods more profitably.

“A careful thief destroys, as soon as possible, all marks of identification, but if he has not done so, the receiver takes that precaution as soon as the stolen property comes into his possession. Merchandise handled under unusual conditions should immediately suggest ‘receivers’ to you. For instance, if you saw a large quantity of silk being taken into a small retail store, or saw the delivery being made from a hand-truck or from a wagon not ordinarily used for such deliveries, or by persons who, from their appearance and manner of handling the merchandise, did not seem to be engaged in the business; or if you observed boxes of shoes being taken into a barber shop, or a great quantity of food being delivered to a dwelling, it should arouse your suspicion.

“Remember that persons engaged in a legitimate business are constantly devising ways and means of advertising themselves. They want everyone to know that they are engaged in a certain business, and located at a certain place, and invite inspection of their stock. They do not paint their windows to hide the contents of their store, or arrange the interior so that the stock will not be in plain sight, or deny prospective purchasers the privilege of examining their stock.”