These are not complete ransackings of homes, but are quick smash-and-grab incidents, taking a few obviously valuable items, such as laptop computers. Many Mount Pleasant residents work during the day, so our homes stand empty. Thieves prowl the neighborhood in search of homes with no one home and with an easy access point, commonly a back door or a rear window. They take what they can carry and quickly sell on the street.
The MPD now believe (August, 2006) that this burglary wave is due to a single person, a man who pretends to be an "apprentice electrician" as he goes about the neighborhood, breaking into homes and stealing what he can carry.
November update: the MPD put a tactical squad of plainclothes officers to work on this burglary problem, and, with five arrests, essentially put a stop to it. Some of those arrested are out on the street again, but they're warned that this neighborhood is under strict surveillance by officers who, being in plain clothers, are not identifiable as police. This has worked wonders.
People frequently say that they want to see more police patrolling their neighborhoods. This gives an illusion of safety, but is not nearly as effective for catching criminals, and stopping crime, as officers whom you cannot see, because they're indistinguishable from the rest of the public.
Bar chart of burglaries in Mount Pleasant, month by month, showing the enormous jump in the summer of 2006. Focused police action rapidly brought the number of burglaries per month down to "normal" levels.
