The scourge of car burglaries — which have been noticeably on the rise in the last two years in various neighborhoods, hitting a five-year high last summer — may finally be slowing down thanks to some new efforts by the SFPD to track down serial offenders. The Examiner reports that as of July, these either due to these efforts by law enforcement or other contributing factors, car break-ins were down 18 percent year over year — though of course those numbers could be skewed because so many people don't even bother reporting break-ins to police.

Acting SFPD Chief Toney Chaplin calls the car burglary issue "a tough nut to crack," but he credits the eight-officer Patrol Bureau Task Force, as well as well as more video surveillance and the collection of fingerprints on burgled vehicles (something some cops balked at as recently as May), with helping to catch and prosecute serial car burglars like 23-year-old Eric Jones, who was convicted by a civil grand jury with breaking into multiple cars from the Mission to the Marina.

In total, the SFPD says they've arrested 10 individuals who have been charged in 92 separate offenses.

Year over year, as of the end of July, car burglaries are down to 13,640, from 16,588 in July 2015. But that's still a huge number, and Supervisor Aaron Peskin said at a Government Oversight and Audit Committee hearing last week that break-ins still aren't down far enough.

Meanwhile, the SFPD is seeking a new suspect, of whom they have images tweeted below, who suspected of committing a car burglary on the 200 Block of Avila Street in the Marina. As KRON 4 reports, the incident occurred on August 6. They ask that anyone with information about this individual call the Anonymous Tip Line at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 with SFPD at the beginning of the message.

Previously: Cops Balk At New SFPD Mandate To Dust All Car Break-Ins For Prints