In December, the Swampscott Police Department posted on Facebook about an investigation into motor vehicle break-ins near Columbia Street and the Train Depot.
Someone called the station to report a person walking down Columbia Street “attempting to open car doors,” Swampscott Police Officer Brendan Reen said.
“Because officers were relatively close to the area, they were able to stop a person that matched the description, and, ultimately, it was learned that person had several items that were stolen on his person,” Reen said. “It was good that we were able to identify that.”
Nationwide, vehicle break-ins surged during the pandemic, a crime that is distinct from vehicle theft. There is no single nationwide total published each year, as there is for vehicle thefts, but residential areas are the most common location for break-ins, according to security company Vivint. More than one in four break-ins (28%) took place in residential driveways, with an additional 30% occurring on residential streets.
According to Vivint, 30% of people who experienced a vehicle break-in reported $1,000 or more in stolen or damaged property. Hyundai Elantra and Hyundai Sonata were the most commonly stolen vehicles in 2023, with 48,445 and 42,813 thefts respectively.
In reported incidents, drivers cited stolen personal items in 43% of break-ins, while broken windows (27%), attempted theft (20%) and keyed or scratched exteriors (17%) were also common.
In Swampscott, the stats seem a bit better. While break-ins are tracked under several categories at the station, Reen totaled eight incidents. Reen listed five breaking-and-entering-into-a-motor-vehicle incidents in the last calendar year. There was one incident of motor vehicle vandalism that resulted in a broken window, the December incident involving an attempted break-in of multiple cars, and another incident that was occurring at the time of the police call.
“We don’t want people to intervene,” Reen said. “We want people to call us, let us respond and give us a good description.”
The items stolen in December were returned, which is “why we put that Facebook post out there,” Reen said.
“It allowed us to sort of remind the public, even if it’s in your own driveway, we want you to lock your doors,” Reen said. “It’s the best deterrent possible…It’s more advantageous for a criminal to try a car door and have it open and go in the vehicle than to force their way into a car and break a window. It’s almost like they don’t want to make the commotion and the noise.”
Reen suggested people leave their cars looking “basically as plain and simple as possible in the interior.” Items like phone chargers, loose change and other small valuables can add up if someone is able to break into multiple cars in one night.
For the holidays, gifts may have been enticing to someone breaking in, and in the summertime, the fact air conditioners are blasting in houses can “help” drown out the car sounds.
Reen noted that eight incidents in a year, for a town the size of Swampscott, is “pretty standard.”
“It’s definitely concerning but it’s something that comes in sort of waves,” Reen said.
Reen also warned that car break-ins “can be anywhere.”
“Many times it can be where people have access to get back on a main walkway, a main dragway or a busier street so they can kind of blend in or just walk away from something,” Reen said. “But sometimes even the quieter streets are susceptible. In apartment complexes – now that we have more growth – that is also a vulnerable area that we want our residents to be aware of. It comes down to making sure you just double check and get into the habit of locking a car every night.”
