Auto burglaries up; safety prevention tips

By Chan Tran
Daily Forty-Niner
 
In the short three weeks of the semester, 11 vehicle burglary reports have been filed with the University Police, despite the fact that the methods of prevention are simple and basic.

"Most of these crimes are crimes of opportunities," said University Police Detective Lisa Lasch. "If somebody comes on campus with an idea of what they want to take and see items available, they usually take what's there. General thieves know what they're doing."

People neglect simple prevention steps to protecting items in their car, Lasch said. The items most often stolen are purses, book bags and compact disc players. Simple tasks like locking the car, rolling up the windows, removing stereo faces and keeping valuable things out of sight are often enough to deter criminals.

"People take for granted that this is a secure world," Lasch said.

Vehicle safety devices such as The Club, alarms, and the Lojack system are more complicated methods, but Lasch recommends that students "at least have an alarm."

"Any anti-theft devices are better than none," Lasch said.

Students should also park in well-lit areas whenever possible.

Once a burglary has occurred, students should not touch anything in the car and "contact the police," Lasch said. "We want to have a chance of collecting evidence."