Recent burglaries and break-ins on Orcas Island were the subject of the Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce “Business Essentials” meeting on Oct. 2.

Chamber Executive Director Lance Evans said the meeting would “recap progress made in the investigation, and offer suggestions on ways we can all safeguard our businesses and homes against this criminal activity.”

Sheriff Deputy Steve Vierthaler opened the discussion by saying there have been “a rash of burglaries of late, that seem to happen annually.” He said a detective had been assigned to the investigation to supplement the sheriff’s department deputies on Orcas. He reported that some of the burglaries seemed to have been for the purpose of identity theft.

“They are stealing computers for identity theft. If you do any online banking, and they take your laptop, they have all the information they need,” Vierthaler said. “These burglaries come in cycles, because either they get caught or they move away. We are having a cycle right now on Orcas. We have had cycles on Lopez and cycles on Friday Harbor in the past.”

Vierthaler said the crimes happened at various times on separate occasions. “Some of it [the thefts and break-in activity] appears to be connected. They are going after electronics and computers,” Vierthaler said. “The locations are widespread. Some have occurred in Eastsound – also Crow Valley, Deer Harbor and out toward Rosario. One was in an apartment building,” he said.

Some of the break-ins could be considered “very subtle thefts,” and that people should call the Sheriff’s Department if they came home and had a feeling someone had been on their computer because the settings or pages were different. “Even if you think it is minor, you should call us,” Vierthaler said.

He told the group that at least one computer business in town had been broken into. “They had $8,000 in equipment charged to their accounts. A lot of it was hacking and spyware purchases that they can use for identity theft.” Saying he did not really understand how the technology worked, Vierthaler said that some thieves were tapping into wireless networks and using scanners on a WiFi network to hack into people’s information.

When a local business woman asked about requesting the post office’s help with miss-delivered mail being easily accessible to others, Vierthaler responded, “Good luck getting any help out of the post office,” before adding, “The local people are great.”

He urged the business owners to invest in camera and security systems. “I would like to see more businesses with a security system with a camera. Take a look at the security systems they have at Village Stop, Country Corner and Island Market. I am familiar with all of them and they are good systems. We have been able to solve more crimes with camera images,” he said. Vierthaler said that one crime had been solved because a camera had caught the image of a tennis shoe.

When asked about being able to get DNA from break-ins, Vierthaler said, “The reality is not like CSI on television. It is hugely expensive to do lab work and the labs are hugely backlogged.” He said for violent crimes lab work might be used, but not for thefts.

Vierthaler said, “I would prefer a silent alarm but because we are so understaffed, with four people right now, the response time is at least 10 minutes. So an audible alarm would be better.” Other than alarm systems, he recommended dummy cameras, dowels placed in windows, special protective window film, and dead bolts on doors. He also recommended having the sheriff’s department walk through the home or residence for a security check.

Vierthaler advised storeowners, “Leave the lights on inside and use motion detector lights outside. These people absolutely work in the dark. They are like cockroaches. You turn the lights on and they run. Businesses should leave the lights on and the drapes open. Lock-up laptops or at least don’t leave them right next to a window.”

An Eastsound businessman commented on recent shoplifting incidents, and asked if the sheriff’s department had been out to talk to the schools about shoplifting, as it seemed to occur every year near the beginning of school. Vierthaler responded, “We have never been invited out to talk to the schools. With the opening of school we always see a rash of shoplifting. It’s mostly girls, not guys. I don’t know why. They are usually a pack of girls. I don’t know if the school will have us come out and talk to them.”

Vierthaler said some of the businesses who had been broken into had left windows open and that deputies had found the windows left unlocked even after the burglary. “A lot of people never even lock their doors. Some don’t even have keys. Or, think of the rental properties and how many people may have keys.”

Residentially, he suggested that people have good locks, use dowels in windows, install motion detector lights and keep “a mean dog.”

“This community has a low crime rate, especially with violent crimes. But, we have all the same crimes as they do on the mainland. It just may be less frequent, and less visible, because we are a small town. There is a business owner here who has been hit three times … and had a shop in Seattle for 20 years and was never hit. This is the end of the road and it’s laid-back and we make it easy for them to get at us,” Vierthaler said.

He recommended having a neighborhood watch. “The more eyes and ears out there, and the more people who that know that eyes and ears are watching, the better it is.”

An Eastsound businessman said that he had heard other business owners express concern about prosecuting shoplifters because of backlash in the community against the business and a fear of potential “boycotts” of the business. The same businessman said, after the meeting, that he would like to see all of the business owners band together to have a similar crime prevention policy.

San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord and Vierthaler told the gathering that they had never seen a a business boycotted because of prosecuting shoplifters.

Vierthaler pointed to Island Market, who he says, “has always had a policy, that if you are caught shoplifting, you will be prosecuted and in addition, banned from the store, for a period of time.” He said that Island Market had stuck to that policy and the shoplifters had been everyone from “kids to a 65-year-old.”

“You need to be consistent about prosecuting, and consistent about letting people know you are looking, and are not an easy mark. Be firm but fair,” Vierthaler said.

“When we catch them, it’s not their first time. They almost always admit it. We do them no favors by being lenient with them,” Vierthaler said.

Gaylord said that when he first came to office he had struggled with the question of prosecuting kids and had sought the advice of former Orcas school Superintendent Steff Steinhorst, who advised him that in most instances by the time a report was taken by the sheriff’s office, the person had already been caught and given a break, and that Steinhorst felt they should be prosecuted when they were caught. “I know there are exceptions, and I recognize those exceptions, but I still prepare to prosecute them. We need to stand firm on prosecuting,” Gaylord said.

Prosecution of young shoplifters goes through juvenile court, Gaylord later explained, and depends on what was taken and what the offender’s prior record is.

Prosecution may result in restitution, days in detention, or diversion where detention is delayed and becomes conditional upon the good behavior of the offender. Detention facilities are on the mainland. Gaylord says that first offenders may receive no detenion, but prior criminal history may result in physical detention at mainland facilities.

Gaylord said, “Alcohol is a big motivation and a target in residential and business thefts. Sometimes thefts of alcohol are easy to miss. It is best not to leave alcohol where it can be easily seen.”

Gaylord also recommended that businesses leave the till drawer conspicuously empty. “Show them what you have, and that’s an open and empty till. So they see, there is no reason to break in.”

“I have had the same bike since I was 16. I have never locked it. But that is because it is always in my sight. You cannot do that with your home and business. So, think about where you are, and what you have that is valuable, and how to protect it.”

“The strongest thing you can do is to stand up to these people,” Gaylord said. “You need to find strength in standing up to them. You need to engage in a public campaign for each other as business owners. Through home, school and church, kids know it is a crime to steal, and they know there are consequences to stealing. But kids are risk takers.”

When asked by a business woman about the e-mail alerts that the sheriff’s office had sent out in the past with information, Vierthaler responded that he no longer had the e-mail addresses for the businesses. Evans said that he would work with Vierthaler to get information out to the business community.