Posted Thursday, May 15 --- 4:45pm

Information obtained during a routine traffic stop led police Thursday to discover three stolen big screen televisions worth upwards of $7,000.

Police now have at least 12 suspects they believe committed numerous commercial burglaries in Madison.

In the fall of last year, police started to see a notable increase in the number of non-residential burglaries in Madison. In January and February of this year there were a total of 217 in Madison alone, which is about triple the amount from 2007.

A Burglary Task Force was created in February and by April the number of burglaries fell to 66. The task force allows different departments around the county to more easily work together and share information.

Even though police believe a majority of these burglaries are committed by a small group of people, they did not say it was gang related.

Said Captain Tom Snyder with the Madison Police, "It is very common for us to see a very small number of people responsible for a large number of burglaries. This is clearly the case. When we say there were 100 burglaries last month we do not mean that there are 100 people who committed a crime. We are talking about a much smaller group of people responsible for these crimes."

Even though the number of commercial burglaries are now down police remind business owners to take action to protect themselves.

They recommend that you have sufficient outdoor lighting, keep landscaping low so people can't hide behind it, and install fencing if possible.

We have linked an entire press release from police to our webchannel (just click on newslinks). That release has more than two pages of helpful information.