Police crackdown helps rein in Lebanon burglaries

LEBANON - The burglary rate of Lebanon homes has been cut by more than half in the past several months after State Police developed quick response and collaborative protocols, said the Maine State Police Troop A sergeant in charge of Lebanon troopers.

Sgt. Jonathan Shapiro said earlier this year State Police were investigating between six and eight burglaries every month in Lebanon, but in the past several months that has been cut dramatically. He said recently the number has been between zero and three, for a reduction of more than 50 percent.

He said the bulk of the burglaries earlier this year were being done by a couple of different groups, which state police were able to put out of commission.

He said troopers were able to achieve this by responding quickly to the burglaries and spreading the word to lawmen in other jurisdictions to trace the movement of criminals and the items they oftentimes try to fence in other states.

“With the quick response when a burglary occurred, once we caught the guys trying to pawn the (stolen goods) two hours later in another state,” Shapiro said on Thursday.

He said burglaries are often inter-jurisdictional, with criminals often living in one state, committing crimes in another and fencing the stolen goods in still another.

He said that was why it was so vital to develop a collaborative model so they could get information out to other lawmen before the trail went cold.