SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Police Department is reporting a drop in "fencing" across the city, specifically the Interstate 10 corridor, which is home to many retail stores and shops.
Fencing is when a shoplifter, called a booster, steals the merchandise from a retail store, then takes the merchandise to a person called a "fence" in exchange for drugs or money. The fence then turns around and sells the stolen goods to the consumer at a discounted price.
"So if you're purchasing items from eBay, Craigslist, individual stuff, be very careful what you're buying," said Detective Brad Sanders, with the San Antonio Police Department. "If the price sounds too good to be true, it's probably stolen."
Sanders said fencing is especially problematic along the I-10 corridor at places like The Rim, The Shops at La Cantera and Huebner Oaks. However, thanks to the formation of a special unit and better communication with retail shops, it's now on the decline.
"For this substation, it's been effective," Sanders said. "I think our numbers are really starting to show that we've had some effect on some of the crime in this area."
Sanders said when fencing goes down, so too do other crimes.
"These fences are tied into a lot of other criminal activity and by removing them we hope that it will lower the crime rate overall, and maybe some of the violent crime too," Sander said.
Consumers who are caught knowingly buying stolen goods can be charged with theft of stolen property.
| 586 | 572 | 357 | -39.15% | -37.6% |
| 2,303 | 2,901 | 2,152 | -6.6% | -25.8% |
| 1,901 | 2,063 | 1,753 | -7.8% | -15.0% |
| 4,610 | 3,821 | 3,348 | -27.4% | -12.4% |
| 9,373 | 9,000 | 8,131 | -13.3% | -9.7% |
| 7,459 | 7,305 | 6,380 | -8.4% | -6.5% |
| 3,723 | 4,685 | 4,409 | 18.4% | -5.9% |
| 19,074 | 19,885 | 18,735 | -1.8% | -5.8% |