Dinuba, Reedley and Visalia police are all noticing the trend.
Dinuba PD reports a burglary every other day.
The thieves are targeting anything they can grab quickly.
They're usually looking for empty homes, but they have broken into some occupied homes when the residents don't answer a knock at the door.
That's how three men ended up in the bedroom of 12-year-old Andres Lipps.
"He was calm and just waited for help to come. But you know, when you hear the door handle shaking, it raises your hackles a little bit," Allen Lipps said.
Police say reinforced doors, extra locks, and security systems will usually send the burglars somewhere else.
The Lipps family started an unofficial neighborhood watch, even getting a suspicious person arrested a week after the burglary at their house.
