Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Schuler Bailey, captain of the KU Public Safety Office, said KU students who are leaving town for Spring Break can follow several, common sense steps to minimize the risk of having their valuables stolen while they are gone.
Lock up
Jenny Rollwagen, Minnepolis freshman, who lives in Naismith, said she usually left her car open when she moved her things in and out of her dorm before break.
“I don’t leave my computer out or anything, but if its just clothes, I don’t think anyone would take clothes,” Rollwagen said.
Alarms can be handy to discourage burglars, but students should be sure to set them and find someone who can respond if it goes off.
But Bailey said because a large number of students were moving items out of their residences, such a crime would be more likely to go unnoticed.
He said that students who lived in the dorms should be particularly concerned with this type of theft because it regularly occurred there.
Bailey also said some thieves walk down dorm halls looking for doors that are unlocked.
“Occasionally you will have a drunk student looking for someone and wander into the room, but he said usually someone is just looking for something to steal,” Bailey said. “Which is why we strive so hard to repeat and repeat and repeat that even if you are in your dorm, lock your door.”
He said he did not know how commonly this occurred off campus, but he said if it happened in the dorms, he would imagine it happens elsewhere.
Rollwagen said she has had people open her door in the middle of the night, but as far as she knew, drunk friends had always been the perpetrators. She said she would lock her door and take her valuables home over break, but she felt confident that the staff of Naismith would protect the residence hall.
Stop your mail
Bailey said that students should either have their mail stopped while they are on break or arrange for someone to pick it up for them.
“Any time you are out for a walk you say, ‘Oh, they’re not home because there’s a bunch of newspapers stacked up,’” Bailey said. “It’s a real quick giveaway no one is at home.”
Get an alarm
Bailey said alarms can come in handy, but only if students remembered to set them. He also said students who installed alarms would need to find someone who would be responsible for the alarm if it went off.
Bailey said students should check with their apartment complexes before installing alarms.
Scott Martin, Northbrooke, Ill. senior, said he did not know anyone who has had their apartment broken into, but he was still worried about a break-in because he owns a number of expensive items.
Martin said his apartment is equipped with an alarm system but he has not activated it because it would cost him money to do so. Martin compared paying to have his alarm system activated and actually having a break-in to buying a winning lottery ticket.
“What are the chances?” Martin said. “It’s just another bill coming in.”
Two types of alarms that stick onto doors and windows via double-sided adhesive tape and do not require tools for installation can be bought from Target for less than $20.
—Edited by Madeline Hyden
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