Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. police jargon) breaking and entering.

1957		H. Slesar ‘Cop for a Day’ in Best of Manhunt (2019) [ebook] ‘e picked up somebody last night, on a B and E; might be one of the guys you’re looking for’.
1968		J. Hersey Algiers Motel Incident 208: You pulled that B. and E.
1970		G.V. Higgins ‘Dillon Explained That He Was Frightened’ in N. Amer. Rev. Fall 43/1: I forget what he was in for, B and E in a federal building, maybe.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 149: I decided not to risk a daytime B&E.
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 204: ‘What about B&E?’ ‘B and E?’ ‘Breaking and entering.’.
1997		C. Hiaasen Lucky You 28: Millionaires, they don’t do b-and-e’s!
2000		C. Cook Robbers (2001) 238: Says both boys were trouble, mostly B and E, auto theft, crap like that.
2001		C. Stella Eddie’s World 143: I’ll be the scapegoat gets the maximum for some bullshit B and E.
2009		(con. 1960s) J. Ellroy Blood’s a Rover 24: Clyde said window-peeping was kosher but nixed B&E.
2020		D. Winslow ‘Paradise’ in Broken 241: [A] three-time loser, a B&E artist whose greatest skill was getting caught.