Crime Prevention

Many students think of their college campuses as safe places, and often they are. But when exhausted students are toting around a laptop, a smartphone, an armful of textbooks, and a cup of coffee, it鈥檚 not hard to see why they might become a target. In 2014, 57% of over 50,000 reported crimes on college campuses nationwide were property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft and robbery). This is a lot of computers, smartphones, cars and bikes to have stolen in just one year. Luckily, a few simple steps can prevent campus theft from happening to you.

Use common sense.

The majority of theft prevention is common sense. Don鈥檛 leave your valuables where just anyone can take them. Lock the door behind you and keep all of your electronics password protected. By making habits out of common sense actions and the tips below, you will make yourself less vulnerable. Hopefully you will never have to deal with the hassle of filing a police report or contacting your credit card companies about fraud alerts. If you minimize the targets, you鈥檒l minimize the risk.

Don鈥檛 leave your things unattended.

Go to the library with a couple of friends, even if you鈥檙e all studying different things. That way, when you urgently have to go to the bathroom or need to run to the caf茅 for a snack, the others can look after your belongings instead of you having to pack them all up and take them with you.

Lock up your bike and/or car.

Leaving something unlocked or unprotected is just asking for it to be taken. Invest in a good bike lock and be sure to loop it through your tires too; you don鈥檛 want to be left with a wheelless bike. It鈥檚 not a bad idea to buy a bike lock that would be tricky to destroy with bolt cutters, though it will be more expensive than a simpler model. As for your car, it鈥檚 even easier to lock up than your bike; just don鈥檛 forget to roll up all your windows first!

Don鈥檛 leave valuables in your car.

Preventing theft is all about not making yourself a target. If you leave a fancy diamond necklace or a new iPad in full view in the backseat of your car, don鈥檛 be surprised if you end up with a brick through your window. Keep your car clean and clear of anything that you would be unwilling to part with. If you have to leave something in your car, make sure it鈥檚 out of sight in the center console, glove compartment or trunk. This may be okay in the short term, but it鈥檚 important to find a safer storage location as soon as possible.

Keep your dorm room or apartment locked when you aren鈥檛 home.

If you don鈥檛 want anyone to go through your things, lock your door. Even if you鈥檙e just going to the bathroom, keeping your room locked is a good habit to have. If you leave the door open or the room unlocked, a potential thief could get a good look at what you have to offer. It鈥檚 better not to advertise.

It鈥檚 particularly important if you live on the ground floor, whether in a dorm room or apartment, to keep your windows closed and locked when you鈥檙e not around. An open window is tantalizing to someone who hopes to get a good haul from your home. Further deter criminals by closing curtains or blinds after dark and keeping a light on during waking hours (even if you鈥檙e not home).

If you鈥檙e going out of town for break, make sure you lock up before you go. If you live in the dorms, take anything valuable with you; your computer is much safer packed up in your carry-on bag than it is just sitting on your desk in an empty room. If you live off campus, ask a trusted neighbor to keep an eye on your house or apartment and to make sure your mail doesn鈥檛 pile up outside your door. Consider buying a timer so that a lamp can switch on and off automatically each night to make it look like someone鈥檚 home.

Don鈥檛 advertise when you鈥檒l be out of town.

It鈥檚 tempting to post about your upcoming vacation plans on social media, but if you have a public profile, you鈥檙e telling potential thieves when you鈥檙e going to be away from your home. While this is less of a problem if you live on campus (because of security measures limiting who has access to dorm buildings), it could be a problem if you live off campus in an apartment or rental home. Save the Facebook and Instagram posts until you鈥檙e back from spring break and can share your photos without making your home a target.

Keep your keys on you at all times.

If your keys are with you, it means that someone else can鈥檛 be using them to get into your car or sneak into your room. There鈥檚 the added bonus of not being able to get locked out. If you lose your keys, you should assume that your locks have been compromised, so report the loss to University Police or your landlord as soon as possible. Unfortunately, you鈥檒l probably be fined for a replacement set.

Personalize your things.

If you want to make your laptop or phone less valuable to someone else, put hard-to-remove stickers on the top. Color on the back of your phone with a permanent marker. Etch your name into the metal of your laptop or make sure your name is otherwise prominently displayed. It鈥檚 much harder for a thief to sell something that鈥檚 been personalized than it is for him or her to sell something that is immaculate. The University Police Department conducts Operation ID where we will assist you with marking your property and creating an inventory list which will assist with recovery of any stolen property.

Use complex passwords for all your electronics.

If someone hacks into your junk mailbox, it may not seem like a big deal, but if that person can get into your school email, your transcripts, or your records of online purchases, you may be susceptible to credit card or identity theft. Take care to make complex passwords (they should be long, a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, and include numbers and special characters) for all your online memberships, your email, and your computer itself. Don鈥檛 reuse the same password for more than one website. You want to make it hard for potential hackers to find out anything about you that isn鈥檛 in the public domain. Learn more about internet safety.

If your email, bank account or identity is compromised, immediately change all passwords and notify your bank and/or the police. While credit card fraud can often be easily resolved through your bank without police interference (unauthorized charges happen daily; your bank will generally reimburse you and send you new cards), identity theft is much more serious.

If you identity has been stolen, you should file a police report with as much detail as possible, listing:

What information the thief has.
Which accounts the thief can access.
What happened to alert you to the theft.
How much money has been stolen.
Whether credit applications have been submitted in your name.
You will also want to call and notify your bank and credit card companies. If your Social Security number is compromised, you鈥檒l need to file a report with the Federal Trade Commission as well. Learn more about identity theft.

Understand the terminology, then hope you don鈥檛 have to use it.

There are four words commonly associated with property crimes: burglary, robbery, theft and assault.

While all can vary in their severity, theft is generally the least severe of these crimes; it simply refers to the unlawful taking of something. For example, imagine a student leaves their computer on a table in the library while buying a snack. He or she comes back to find the computer stolen. This is a theft. Theft may be considered a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the value of the items that were taken.

Robbery occurs when a person is threatened or hurt during a theft (i.e., the theft is committed by force). Robbery is always a felony and the value of the items taken has no effect on the degree of the crime. Robbery could involve a perpetrator verbally threatening an individual into handing over their belongings or a perpetrator physically harming an individual in pursuit of their belongings.

Burglary goes hand-in-hand with trespassing.

A burglary occurs when a perpetrator enters a building or structure (like a vehicle, boat, etc.) with the intent to commit a crime, typically theft. The severity of the crime depends on whether the building is occupied or considered a place where an individual should feel reasonably safe (e.g., their home, hotel room or campsite).

Any property crime can be accompanied by assault, which is any intentional physical contact or threat of harm between the perpetrator and the victim. While this may involve hand-to-hand contact, it can also involve the perpetrator using a weapon or tool (a gun, a baseball bat, etc.) to harm or attempt to harm the victim. Crimes that are accompanied by assault are punished more severely than those that are not.

Who to call if you鈥檙e a victim or witness:

  • If you have experienced a theft, call university police at 907-786-1120 or the local nonemergency number.
  • If a robbery, burglary or assault is ongoing and you are able to call 9-1-1 or university police, do so.
  • If it鈥檚 within 15 minutes of the crime occurring, the perpetrator is still in the vicinity or someone needs urgent medical assistance, call 9-1-1 or university police.
  • If it鈥檚 been more than 15 minutes since the crime occurred, the perpetrator is no longer in the immediate vicinity and no one has been injured or is need of immediate medical assistance, call university police or the local nonemergency number.

Being the victim of a crime can have physical, financial and mental side effects, but law enforcement agents will help you through the process.

More crime prevention information for the following: