MORGAN PARK — The mind of a burglar is a terrible thing to waste, so three convicted burglars shared their secrets as part of a panel discussion on Tuesday evening at the Beverly Arts Center.
Kevin, 24, and Deonte, 20, are both serving time for residential burglary at a halfway house. Marcus, 51, has served three stints behind bars for burglary. He's currently a free man.
All of the men arrived at the arts center at 2407 W. 111th St. in Morgan Park courtesy of the Safer Foundation. This non-profit group operates transitional facilities that help criminals find jobs after serving time.
None of the men provided their last names and photography wasn't allowed during the presentation. Here's a few of the secrets the burglars revealed:
What neighborhoods do they target? Any neighborhood where people aren't paying attention, preferably affluent areas. Residential areas with heavy traffic and homeowners mulling about are typically avoided.
"Too many people with too many eyes are not a good thing," Kevin said.
Did they do any surveillance prior to a break-in? Marcus said he'd often knock on doors and pretend to be a salesman or handyman looking for work. If nobody answered, he assumed the house was empty.
Deonte said he rarely did much more than ring the doorbell ahead of breaking into a home. And Kevin said he once monitored a house for a month to learn the homeowner's patterns.
Did they work alone or as part of a team? Both Kevin and Deonte said they preferred to have a partner to watch their back. Marcus liked to work alone, which he believed kept him from looking conspicuous as well as potentially being ratted out.
How did they get in and out? All of the men preferred to gain access to a home through a window. Marcus said a common way he'd gain entry into a home was by pushing a window air conditioning unit into the home and crawling through the opening left behind.
Nearly all of the men said they exited the house through a front or back door.
What time of day did you prefer to break in? The burglars preferred the morning hours - shortly after 8 a.m. - to do their illegal business. This was usually the time homeowners left for work and students arrived at school. This also gave them until about 2:30 p.m. before anyone realized they were there.
How long did it take? Marcus and Kevin said they were in and out of a home in 5-7 minutes. Deonte said most of his burglaries were no longer than 15 minutes.
Were alarms a deterrent? The burglars all preferred homes without alarm systems. But an alarm wouldn't prevent them from entering a home with known valuables. The experienced men said home alarms function as a timer for them. If they were able to get in and out in less than 5 minutes, they didn't give the police or the homeowner time to respond to the alarm.
Where did you find the best stuff? The master bedroom was the first stop for all of the crooks. They'd empty out night stands, dresser drawers and check for anything hidden beneath the bed.
"For some reason, you women think that your underwear drawer is a safety deposit box," Marcus said.
Identity theft can be a lucrative crime. For the panelists familiar with the process, stealing a single check with a routing number from the back of the checkbook allowed them to set up phony accounts and often went unnoticed for long periods.
Safes only keep your items safe if they're bolted to the floor. All the men said they'd swipe a locked safe in a heartbeat and worry about opening the lockbox later. "That just lets me know you've got something I need," Deonte said.
Detached garages are often an easy score. Even homes with alarms rarely have the garage under surveillance. Also, garage doors can usually be manipulated just enough to squeeze underneath. Once inside, the burglars simply needed to press the button to open the door.
Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) coordinated the seminar with help of officers from the Morgan Park Police District.
Prior to the presentation O'Shea addressed the audience and encouraged attendees to call 911 if they noticed anything suspicious in the neighborhood. He also warned residents that the summer months tend to be the "busy season" for burglars.
"The information that you guys learn tonight is power," O'Shea said.
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