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Atherton, in partnership with the San Mateo County, is offering $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of suspects involved in two burglaries that took place on Jan. 11 on Stevick Drive, Atherton Police Chief Steve McCulley said on April 23.
The burglaries both took place around 7 p.m and burglars entered both homes by breaking glass doors in the rears of the residences, according to police. Approximately $20,000 in jewelry and gold and silver coins was stolen from one of the homes.
The reward is the first offered in a pilot program county Supervisor Ray Mueller championed in June 2024.
“Its exciting to see the pilot program go into effect,” Mueller said.
“When residential burglaries occur, they profoundly impact our communities, because our home is our safe haven, where we create lasting memories with our family and friends,” San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said at the county meeting where the program was approved.
The program was launched in response to over 90 such crimes in five months in unincorporated parts of the county and Midpeninsula cities like Menlo Park, San Carlos and Atherton. Around the same time, Atherton launched a bait house program to catch and deter burglars.
County Executive Mike Callagy approved the reward earlier this month, which is funded by a $125,000 transfer from Measure K, a .5% county wide sales tax, funds.
“We believe this initiative will not only encourage community involvement but also send a strong message that criminal activity will not be tolerated,” said McCulley.
Atherton reported 40 burglaries in 2024, one third more than in 2023. Atherton has had three reported burglaries so far this year.
Members of the public can report information about the burglaries to Detective Gina Dutta at 650-688-6500 or GDutta@ci.atherton.ca.us.
How about a $10 MILLION dollar reward instead of a $10 thousand dollar reward?
I say this because we’re paying MORE THAN TEN MILLION PER YEAR for the Atherton Police Department, and they’ve done actually nothing to stop these burglaries except tell people to turn their alarms on.
If $10 million isn’t enough incentive to stop the burglaries, how will $10 thousand work?
Perhaps this is a really stark reminder that the way the town council is spending money for public safety is totally out of whack with how results are generated and what the town needs.