11 Austin car burglary suspects have been breaking into cars for years: APD

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin police have caught almost a dozen women who have apparently been breaking into cars at parks in Austin for years.

 11 people arrested for car burglaries

The backstory:

Eleven people have been arrested for their involvement in what’s being deemed ‘a large criminal enterprise.’ Police said this group has been burglarizing vehicles at different parks around Austin for a couple of years now.

"There needs to be some accountability to be like, ‘hey, this is no longer a free for all,’" Austin Police Department North Metro Tactical Response Unit Detective Shawn Green said.

Detective Green said many agencies worked together and technology was used to put a stop to this operation.

"We were able to utilize information from our flock LPR system, which was a great asset. We had individuals who had dash-cams in their vehicles, so when they were burglarized, the suspects were actually captured inside the vehicle. We had witnesses and victims who grabbed photos very quickly as the suspects were fleeing in a vehicle. All of that information was helpful in the investigation," Detective Green said.

When they caught them, Detective Green said they also found money, fentanyl, and dozens of gift cards believed to have been purchased with stolen debit and credit cards. Every single one of the suspects has a criminal history ranging from aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft, burglary, fraud, assault, terroristic threat, credit card abuse, possession, and evading arrest. 

Many of their previous charges were dismissed.

"It's absolutely frustrating for us and for the public," Detective Green said.

What's next:

Austin police said their work continues.

"We're aware there are at least two or three dozen people involved in these crimes, so we're going to continue to pursue those individuals," Detective Green said.

Do people who commit crimes change their behavior after their arrest?

The other side:

"When you have policies that allow people to commit crime after crime with no consequences, they go further down that path, end up committing many more crimes, drawing more people into criminality who maybe otherwise wouldn't have been and you end up with this much bigger, more intractable problem than you would have had," Manhattan Institute Director of Policing and Public Safety Hannah Meyers said.

Meyers said once someone goes down the path of criminality, "it's very, very hard and almost impossible to change criminal behavior, to change criminal psychology."

Research shows people who are released from jail have a 70 percent chance of being rearrested within three years.

"That's why it's so important to have good policies where we're deterring crime, because we have enough police and we have consistent prosecution, and so we say, hey, there's no opportunity to start down this pathway," Meyers said.