<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Law enforcement officers in Florida may soon have an additional tool to use to battle crime.A bill is now pending in the state Legislature that would make it a felony to commit a crime in one county and then cross county lines trying to escape.The legislation is the idea of Martin County Sheriff William Snyder. He said the bill is aimed at the rash of \"pillowcase burglaries\" the county has seen, more than 100 in the last three years. The suspects in those cases are almost exclusively from Broward County and travel to Martin County to burglarize homes.\"The difficulty we have with these traveling burglars, these pillowcase burglars, is that traditional law enforcement methods don't work as well,\" Snyder told WPBF 25 News.Snyder said detectives often solve crimes by using confidential informants or known places where stolen goods are sold. When the criminals come from a different county, those things aren't as useful.That's why the sheriff said crossing county lines should be an additional felony. The legislation also requires suspects to appear before a judge, meaning they would have to spend at least one night in jail.\"So much about the traveling from county to county makes that crime all that more difficult to investigate,\" Snyder said. \"I think this bill will help stem this tide.\"Follow Ari Hait on Twitter at @wpbf_ari.More From WPBF: Email alerts | Mobile | SocialView, Share Breaking News Photos On WPBF.com's u local:9146236"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wpbf.com/article/proposed-law-aims-to-crack-down-on-pillowcase-burglars/1320201>