BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff's Office Burglary Apprehension Team, known as BAT, was supposed to be a temporary group to combat break-ins. But its success has launched it to full-time status.
"We go all over the county. We focus on residential burglaries," said Sgt. Valerie Devlin.
Detective Javier Duran, an original member of BAT, said burglary is big business in Broward County.
"The money now is burglaries. They start with burglaries, get your identity and, eventually, it leads to fraud," Duran said.
Earlier in the year, BAT picked up a boyfriend-girlfriend team allegedly connected to at least seven burglaries in the north part of the county.
For the last eight months, the team has also been tracking a gang of young criminals. Duran said the method of operation is to break into houses, steal car keys, and get away with stolen cars to use in future break-ins.
But BAT is closing in.
In January, they arrested Wisdom Williams, 17, the gang's alleged ringleader.
"A lot of times they're so surprised, because we drive regular cars, that they have no idea what's going on. And we're on top of them before they can react," Duran said.
Since March 2014, when the team was formed, the Broward Sheriff's Office said BAT has made a total of 181 arrests.
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