Confessions of a Police Detective

As a detective in a large southern California city assigned to property crimes, I can sit and think of dozens of incidents, crimes and perpetrators that will stick with me forever.

One incident I always tell about at parties is once of my fastest case wrap-ups ever. It's all about the arrest of a burglary suspect and the recovery of the stolen property all on the same day it was reported.

I was sent to follow up on the reported burglary of a grammar school over the long Memorial Day weekend. The suspect(s) were able to gain entrance into the school and steal thousands of dollars of computer equipment by breaking windows of a classroom that had not been alarmed yet. In addition to the computer items, there was a great deal of candy, cookies and ice cream stolen from the cafeteria.