Bellevue Police target property crimes, stats show 20 percent drop

BELLEVUE, Wash. — The Bellevue Police Department says property crimes are down in the city after the targeted work of the department's Special Enforcement Team.

According to the department's annual report car prowls dropped 21 percent in 2018. Undercover detectives worked for months to identify a group of more than 60 suspects they say were linked to about 150 car prowls on the Eastside in 2017.

Many of the victims were using parks and had their purses and credit cards stolen. The suspects used the credit cards to buy gifts cards which were used to fund local gang activity, according to investigators.

The same way detectives focused on car prowls, they also zeroed in residential burglaries. According to department data residential burglaries dropped 20 percent in 2018.

The Special Enforcement Team identified a burglar responsible for as many as 100 burglaries, they dubbed him the "dead bolt bandit".

Police say residents providing clear images from surveillance cameras and real time alerts about intruders that go to their cell phones, helped police identify other suspects and respond quickly before the suspects left the area.

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