PoliceLink

I know it's not considered a serious crime in most areas, but smash and grabs from vehicles are driving me nuts.  I work in a suburb community that is fairly affluent.  One of our problems we run into is that our residents go to the gym, mall, whatever and leave their laptops, GPS units, etc. in their cars.  Theives then come by and smash a window out and take them causing a ton of paperwork.  

I am the afternoon shift supervisor and have had our officers try surveillance, educating the citizens, bait cars and directed patrols on bikes, foot and in cars.  So far nothing has worked.  Anyone have any ideas of things we can try so that we can catch these idiots? 

Sounds like you're already trying everything sensible.

I'm in the IT profession--so from that angle the baiting part sounds like something I'd think about. There are numerous ways to make a laptop "call home" and report its electronic address. Further, there is software available that's specifically designed for this purpose that makes this process easier, some even stealthily activating built-in video cameras that are often found on laptops these days. A quick search turned up a free, open source piece of software that does this--but the page is currently reporting that the software isn't currently working because a backend service it depends on is proving unreliable. But I would definitely think about technological ways of "seeding the bait" (keeping your department's legal authority in the loop, always, of course).

Other than that, you're already going above and beyond what's required. People need to be more sensible about attractive items left in their vehicles. Another thing to add to your "education" piece is to remind people that if their laptops are holding confidential customer data from their employer, their employer is often (always?) legally required to notify all suspected affected individuals. It can be a huge source of embarrassment, not to mention legal and monetary liability, for companies. My own personal data was on a laptop that was stolen recently, along with 45000 other individuals. The entity responsible has been very proactive about notifying everybody and is also paying for a premium credit monitoring service for ALL 45000 people. I don't know if anybody got fired over this, but it isn't out of the question.

I know this idea will recv slim to no acceptance from brass who are trying to cut costs, but I would recommend a reverse call system in your city reminding people about this huge problem.  It's automated and wom't take away from man power too much and you're letting the citizens know that this has become a problem that they need to keep in mind.  It has been in use for years in Clearwater with positive impact so it's an idea to consider.  Unfortunately, not everyone thinks it will ever happen to them. (we don't even leave the bracket on the windshield to tempt someone to smash into my truck and take a look for my GPS)  Good luck!!