Summer 2017


Beware the B.E.A.R.: One Agency’s answer to their rising burglary problem By Clyde Parry, Deputy Chief of Operations , Coral Springs Police Department


Coral Springs prides itself as being a great place to live, work and raise a family; however, like many affluent communi- ties, residential and vehicle burglaries continuously plagued our residents. It became clear to the Coral Springs Police Department’s Command Staff that developing a comprehensive strategy to combat our burglary problem needed to become a priority.


Located in the northwest portion of Broward County, Florida, Coral Springs is an upper-middle class community of approximately 125,000 residents. Coral Springs is well known for its schools, parks, gated com- munities, golf courses and fine-manicured lawns. Unfortunately, the city is also known as a prime hunting ground for criminals who wish to conduct residential and vehicle burglaries.


In the latter part of 2011, the Coral Springs Police Department’s Com- mand Staff realized that they were not winning the war on property crimes. Vehicle burglaries hit an all-time high in 2009 with 831, and resi- dential burglaries topped out at 539 in 2011. Burglaries, both vehicle and residential, were traditionally the City of Coral Spring’s number one crime issue, yet no single entity was tasked with combating this problem. The department had a narcotics unit that focused on narcotics, a traffic unit that focused on traffic and although the department’s general assignment detectives investigate burglaries; it is just one of their many functions. There was no unit specifically tasked with attacking the city’s burglary problem. It became clear to the command staff that it was time to develop a cohesive unit specifically designed, and narrowly focused, on combating burglaries.


In the past, the department’s response to heightened burglary activity was to form ad hoc taskforces to deal with the spikes in burglaries. These taskforces typically lasted anywhere from two weeks to two months, and were disruptive to road patrol and specialized units, taking officers and detectives away from their primary duties. Although these efforts have had success in combating the problem by bringing the spike in burglaries under control, this was only a tempo- rary solution to an ongoing problem. If the department was going to seriously attack the burglary problem, they need- ed to find a way to better utilize the precious manpower and resources available to them and use those resources in an efficient and effective manner.


Building a Unit In December of 2011, the Coral Springs Police Department established a temporary Burglary Enforcement And Reduc- tion (BEAR) Unit. The unit would operate on a trial basis and would need to prove its worth if it hoped to receive fund- ing to become a permanent unit.


The department believed that team composition was paramount to the success or failure of the unit. With that in mind, the command staff selected a supervisor who possessed traits that they believed were necessary to lead their new weapon against burglaries. Sergeant Glen Dorow, a high energy-go getter, was selected to lead the unit. Sgt. Dor- ow possessed the experience and knowledge necessary to assemble, train and lead the unit that was just an idea months before. The new unit had no standard operating procedures or past experiences to guide it. The unit only possessed a mandate to reduce vehicle and residential burglaries through proactive means. The police department decided to staff the unit with six officers and one sergeant. With Sgt. Dorow selected to lead the unit, the department turned its attention selecting six officers to staff the unit. The department recruited officers who possessed a strong work ethic who would be passionate about their new assignment. The department sought officers who possessed, or could quickly learn, the following skill sets: • One or more members who has the ability to collect, organize and disseminate intelligence • One or more members who has strong writing skills and the ability to author documents such as tracking orders, subpoenas, warrants and other legal documents


Continued on next page


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32