Take the steps one at a time and the night stays manageable. Each one below sets up the one after it.
Start with the police, even for a small break in
If there's any chance someone is still inside, stay out and call 911 from somewhere safe. If the building is clearly empty, the police non-emergency line is the right channel, and the thing you want out of that conversation is a case number. Insurance companies generally ask for one on burglary claims, and it's far easier to collect the night it happens than to chase down weeks later.
File the report even if nothing seems to be missing. Sometimes the only loss is the glass and the lock, and the case number still anchors the claim. For a business, it also gives your file a clean official record of when and how it happened, which matters more the busier the following weeks get.
Photograph the scene and start a list
Hold off on straightening up, as strong as the urge will be. Photograph the broken glass from inside and out, the point of entry, anything forced or knocked over, and the spots where missing things used to sit. Then start a written list of what's gone, and keep adding to it over the following days. Nobody catches everything the first night, and adjusters are used to lists that grow.
If it's a shop, pull whatever camera footage exists while you're at it and save it somewhere outside the recorder, with the time stamps noted in the same file as your list.
Get the building closed up the same day
A break-in opening is usually too big and too ragged for tape and cardboard, and at a business it's the front of the building, so this is a plywood job rather than a do-it-yourself patch. Boarding up is same-day work, it's what an emergency glass line exists for, and it's the point in the evening where things stop getting worse and start getting fixed.
What happens between your call and a secured building, who shows up, what they bring, and how long the board stays on, is covered start to finish on the emergency glass repair and board-up page, so you only need to make the call and describe the opening.
Make the insurance call with the file ready
By this point you're holding everything the claim needs from your side: a case number, photos, a growing list of what's missing, and the paperwork from securing the building. Most policies expect you to take reasonable steps to keep further damage out, so the board-up receipt belongs in the file along with the rest. Add the glass shop's written replacement estimate when it arrives, and your half of the claim is complete.
If the losses turn out small, you still get to choose whether to file at all. Good documentation keeps that choice open until you've seen the numbers.
Choosing the new glass on your own schedule
Once the building is secure, the replacement becomes an ordinary decision on an ordinary timeline. Like-for-like glass puts the window or storefront back exactly as it was, and for most openings that's the right answer.
If the same opening has been broken before, ask about laminated glass when you get your estimate. It's built around a bonded interlayer, so a blow leaves it cracked but still filling the frame instead of opening a hole. It costs more to fabricate and takes longer to order, and on a door pane or a ground-floor window it can be a sensible upgrade to make while everything is already apart. Your glass shop can tell you what your specific opening allows.
Getting help tonight
Call (503) 887-8329 once the police are on their way, or while you wait for them. The emergency line answers nights and weekends, the board-up happens the same day, and the replacement follows with a written estimate and no rushed decisions. Clear Works Glass, SE Portland. Free estimates. Oregon CCB #261682, bonded and insured.