But they kept coming. By the time we finished paperwork on one break-in, another would be reported somewhere else in town. No pattern we could prove. Just the same tired look on homeowners’ faces when we told them we’d “keep an eye out.”
For a department like ours, that was enough to put everyone on edge. After that, the captain had us on high alert. Roll call stopped being casual. Maps went up on the board, neighborhoods circled and re-circled as the reports clustered. We were told to be visible, to slow down, to notice what didn’t belong.