Arlington Heights police received a report about 5:11 PM Wednesday of a residential burglary in the block of 900 South Burton Place Arlington Heights, IL. Police received a report that an unknown offender or offenders burglarized a home near Burton Place and Central Road after a high loss was discovered at the home. Police responded with a heavy presence and searched the neighborhood with over five police squads, but no offender information was available.
Police also canvassed the neighborhood. — asking neighbors nearby if they saw anything peculiar or suspicious.
An unknown offender or offenders gained entry to a luxury home through a patio door, using force. The offender(s) removed several items, including two Rolex watches valued at $44,000, one 4.6 carat diamond ring valued at $60,000, one Patek Phillipe watch valued at$50,000, two oval shaped diamond cuff links valued at $4,000, various pieces of gold jewelry valued at $100,000, and $100 cash.
From the time frame it appears that a burglar alarm was not present or not activated at the residence.
The crime is reported to have occurred on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:10 p.m. Arlington Heights Police Department released information about the case on March 20, 2014 at 3:24 p.m.
Due to a radio blackout with encrypted secure police radio dispatch, The Cardinal was not aware of the burglary until a tip from a resident came in on Thursday morning about 10:00 a.m. — allowing about 15 hours for the trail to go cold without any wide-area awareness by concerned Arlington Heights residents, or other local media.
Witness reports indicate that the case involved a victim that is a high profile resident and figure in Arlington Heights.
IMPORTANT ALERT …
Cardinal Note: As of June 5, 2013 — up to and including the date of this article — police incidents related to the above police agency are not reported in real time or within a prompt time period. Police protecting their realm of investigation and police activity, have chosen to use secret military-grade encrypted radios to withhold their police communications, which were previously open to the public and news media via monitoring of public safety scanning radios — with no known negative results locally.
The delayed knowledge or entirely blacked out knowledge resulting from encrypted police communications may protect certain police operations and investigations, but it also puts the public at risk in situations such as when armed and dangerous offenders are at large and when other similar situations occur, such as when desperate offenders of property crimes are eluding police. In other cases, the delayed or blacked out information inhibits or prohibits the possibility of the public providing early witness accounts before a criminal trail goes cold. Citizens are much more likely to recognize or recall suspicious or criminal activity if they are aware of the criminal incident within minutes or hours of its occurrence. The most serious incident involving dire results would be a trail that is allowed to go cold in the case of child abduction.
The lack of real time information from public police dispatch also weakens an effective neighborhood watch program mostly working to prevent property loss, but also working to prevent possible violent crimes.
Police have alternate ways to transmit tactical, operational or investigative information, while still keeping their main public dispatch channels open for the best balance of public safety and police safety.
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