By Tammy Grubb
The News & Observer
DURHAM, N.C. — Triangle police are stepping up patrols and fire stations are securing their parking lots after multiple vehicle break-ins targeting firefighters this month.
Durham’s firefighters union thinks criminals may be using online apps to pick their targets, said Jason Davis, a Durham firefighter and president of the Professional Firefighters of Durham (Local 668).
So far, thieves have broken into 15 vehicles at three Chapel Hill fire stations and hit two stations in Durham and at least one station in Raleigh, officials said.
Raleigh fire stations have been the target of a handful of break-ins in the last year, city spokesperson Julia Milstead said.
In Chapel Hill, police have formed a new investigations team after overnight break-ins Jan. 13 and Jan. 18 at fire stations on Martin Luther King Jr . Boulevard, Hamilton Road and Weaver Dairy Road, spokesperson Alex Carrasquillo said. Thieves smashed windows to get into the vehicles, and firefighters were on a call when some of the break-ins happened, but not all of them, he said.
The town installed cameras in the fire station parking lots a few months ago and are working to add more, Carrasquillo said.
For now, the investigations team is conducting “theft reduction patrols” at places where break-ins are most often reported and are coordinating with law enforcement agencies in Durham and Raleigh, he said. Chapel Hill has formed specialized teams in the past to address “crime trends and the effects on the community,” he said.
Police are making progress, Carrasquillo noted.
“The fact that this is happening at fire stations is unsettling, because they come in to help the community and this is happening while they are here at work to do that,” Carrasquillo said. “But this issue is something that we’re also seeing townwide, so we know it’s happening where people are parked and away from their car for a long period of time.”
Davis also spoke recently with colleagues at fire stations in Virginia that have seen “a huge string” of break-ins to personal vehicles there, he said.
“They’re actually breaking windows and going through cars and stealing stuff out of cars” parked outside the fire stations, Davis said about the break-ins at Station 5 on Chapel Hill Road and Station 16 on Farrington Road. He did not know what was taken, he said.
Local 688 posted about the break-ins Friday on Facebook. On Saturday, the union warned that criminals may be using local scanner apps and livestreams, such as Broadcastify, to track emergency calls and targeting stations when they know no one will be at the station.
The Durham Fire Department has temporarily turned off its scanner and is reaching out to the city for a long-term solution, Davis said. That includes installing cameras in fire station parking lots and taking other measures, he said, declining to be more specific.
Fire Department officials asked a previous Durham City Council to fence and gate the parking lots, because break-ins do happen sporadically, Davis said. That council was not in favor of the idea because of how it would look to the public, he said.
For now, fire departments across the Triangle are asking firefighters to make sure they hide valuables or remove them from the vehicle and lock the doors while they are at work, officials said.
Firefighters also need the public’s help, Davis said.
“If anybody in the general public sees someone kind of snooping around the firehouses not in a uniform, it doesn’t hurt to call the authorities and let them know,” Davis said. “Even if it’s somebody (in) general services, a maintenance person that’s working on the building — especially right now, if they’ve got work to do there, they wouldn’t mind answering question from a police officer.”
Anyone with information about the break-ins can call 911. Police are also interested in talking with anyone who might have doorbell or home surveillance camera footage, Carrasquillo said.
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