It was a day that forever changed the Kirkland Police Department, and Chief Eric Olsen will never forget it.

He was laying tile in a Bellevue home when his phone went off. There was a structure fire, an officer on the other line told Olsen.

“Me being a cop, I’m like big deal. It’s a structure fire. Call fire,” Olsen recalled during a Kirkland Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday at the Woodmark Hotel that focused on “Law and Order” in Kirkland.

Moments later, Olsen received another call. I think we’ve got a problem, boss, an officer said as he described the four bodies they found in the smoldering home on Slater Avenue in July 2006. The slain bodies were of Olga Milkin, 28; her young sons Justin and Andrew; and her sister, Lyubov Botvina, 24.

“That was a turning point for our police department because it was the first time we had a case of that magnitude in Kirkland,” Olsen said, adding it was “incredible” to watch how the KPD, Kirkland Fire Department and regional agencies worked together during the case.

The jury found the man accused of the crime, Conner Schierman, guilty on all counts last Monday.

“It was a real tragedy. I know it impacted me, it impacted my detectives and it’s a huge case,” said Olsen. “ … But to see a case come to justice like that really makes us feel good for what we do.”

Olsen used the recent case as an opportunity to introduce “Law and Order” in Kirkland. During the event, Olsen and King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg addressed current crime trends in Kirkland and the region and what businesses and the community at large can do to protect themselves. Participants also had the opportunity to “cross-examine” the law enforcement officials and ask them questions.

Crime in Kirkland

One person asked what issues the law enforcement agencies faced that impact businesses directly and what people could do to protect themselves.

In Kirkland, one of the biggest issues facing the KPD is identity theft, said Olsen. Businesses have access to a lot of information: social security numbers, home addresses, dates of birth.

“We’re seeing really sloppy practices of people protecting that kind of identification: people leaving laptops in their cars that have business accounts with people’s information, people not using shredders, not disposing of information or old files,” said Olsen.

He cited an example of a case the KPD was involved in a couple years ago that included car prowlers known as the “happy hour bandits.” The suspects would jump off Interstate 405 and hit restaurants and clubs in the Bellevue and Kirkland area. They would prowl cars, find briefcases or laptops left in vehicles, download personal information and send it electronically to the Far East.

“By the time victims got out of the clubs or happy hour, their information was being used fraudulently to make purchases and drain bank accounts. That’s how good they were,” Olsen noted, urging businesses to protect personal records. “Once you’re a victim of identity theft, it is a very miserable process to try and get your ID back.”

He also encouraged individuals to put their laptop or purse in the trunk before they leave the office.

“God bless my wife, but she’s the worst offender,” Olsen said, adding his wife will park at a store, walk around to the back of her car and hide her purse in the trunk.

Crooks aren’t necessarily dumb, said Olsen.

“They’ll sit in the parking lot and watch and if they see you come up and you just hop out of your car, lock the door and there you go, and my wife pulls up and hides her purse, I can tell you which car is going to get hit,” he said amidst a room of laughter.

Regional crime trends

The Prosecutor’s Office is seeing a couple of regional trends that are disturbing to businesses, said Satterberg.

One trend is organized retail theft where gangs of people steal certain products out of drug stores and grocery stores. These products are easy to sell on the secondary market: razor blades, Crest whitening strips, baby formula, and cosmetics, for example.

Satterberg said stores that have been robbed should share that information with other store owners.

The Northwest is also seeing an explosion of pharmacy robberies. He said a pill of Oxycotin sells on the street for $1 a milligram.

“So if you can get an 80 milligram pill, that’s worth $80,” Satterberg said. “So if you can go in and get five or six bottles full of those things, that’s as good as robbing a bank.”

Lawmakers are working on changing the sentencing laws for criminals convicted of robbing a pharmacy.

Despite the rising trends, there is still good news, he added. Since regional efforts to combat prolific car theft, King County went from a rank of sixth in the nation in 2005 to 26th in the nation in auto theft.

“The chances of you finding your car where you left it before lunch today are good,” said Satterberg.