Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / March 31, 2010, edition 1 / Page 3
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Page 3 Campus larcenies remain high, according to police By Justin Stewart STAFF WRITER JASTEWAR@UNCA.EDU Incidents of larceny on campus in creased this spring, according to recent UNC Asheville Campus Police crime logs. Since January, 12 of the 22 offenses logged by campus police are occurrenc es of theft. The recent spike in larcenies is chiefly due to students’ negligence, ac cording to campus police. “We’ve noticed more of a growing carelessness of individuals on campus,’’ said Sgt. Joseph Jones. “They’ll walk away and leave their stuff, or leave their rooms unlocked. These are almost al ways a crime of opportunity. If you leave something open, even someone that had no plans of stealing anything could come along and take something.” No arrests have been made in these cases, but nine of the dozen incidents are still under investigation. In accordance with this semester’s campus police daily crime logs, three cases have been closed due to unfounded or exhausted leads. Jones said campus police will keep these cases open as long as possible, though. “We’ll investigate it until we can’t get any more information,” Jones said. “Af terwards, we’ll go back periodically and check to see if the item has turned up anywhere.” The log’s list of stolen items includes things like computer hardware, electron ics, jewelry and sporting equipment. In their investigations, Jones said the de partment works closely with local pawn shops to locate UNCA residents’ pilfered belongings. “We’ll take a report and see if anyone has tried to sell the item,” Jones said. “The pawn shops in the area are very good at making sure individuals have identification, and take a photograph of anyone that pawns something. We check to see if the merchandise has been pawned, but without a witness or actu ally catching someone in the act, there’s very little we can do.” The increase in reported larcenies at UNCA this semester prompted campus police to bolster efforts in theft preven tion. According to Jones, the agency at tempts to raise students’ awareness of the recent increase of theft around campus. “We’re trying to put out the informa tion to individuals, that people need to secure their belongings,” Jones said. “We want to make sure that students, faculty, and staff lock their rooms, of fices and cars.” Incidents of theft on college campuses usually involve someone stealing an un attended backpack, laptop or electronic accessory, such as a cell phone, eamera or MP3 player. However, Jones said thieves will look for anything of value that can be easily lifted and immediately used or resold. “IPods and digital devices are very high on the list,” Jones said. “For the most part, when these things aren’t eas ily sold, the thieves will simply use it for themselves.” Campus Police recommend residents take individual measures to further en sure the safety of their valuables. Ac cording to Jones, recording the serial numbers from personal electronic equip ment is an effective measure. “That’s very important in helping us locate stuff, especially if it’s been sold, or it’s in someone else’s possession,” Jones said. “Recorded serial numbers definitely help speed the identification and recovery of a stolen item.” The campus buildings and grounds where these incidents occurred this year include Ashe, Karpen, Mills and Robin son Hall. The Justice Gym and UNCA’s Health and Fitness Center are also other venues where items have come up missing, ac cording to campus police. Jones said campus parking lots are also common larceny locations. “We patrol the parking lots all the time,” Jones said. “Believe it or not, a lot of the parking areas are targeted dur ing the daytime hours more than at night. You have things going on during the day. A lot of individuals are in classrooms or in the offices, so with little traffic, indi viduals will often break into cars in the parking lots during broad daylight.” The department advises the entire UNCA community to be on the lookout for suspicious activity, and immediately report it to campus police. Despite UN CA’s centralized and intimate campus atmosphere, Jones encourages everyone to diligently lock their doors and keep a Emily Kerr- Contributing Photographer Larcenies on campus often include items like digital music players and laptops, which have resale value, according to Campus Police. watchful eye on their possessions. “We’re a small, close-knit campus, where everyone seems to get along for the most part,” Jones said. “However, this does not stop these crimes of oppor tunity from happening. Stuff will disap pear in a minute.” Furthermore, Jones said the univer sity’s police and Public Safety Depart ments are relatively undersized, which makes it even more important for stu dents, faculty and staff do their part to protect themselves against the budding trend of thefts on campus. “We’re a small department. We don’t have enough patrol to go around and be everywhere at once,” Jones said. “Even if we did, the chances of us coming upon someone doing something are very slight.” The UNCA Campus Police daily crime log is available at http://www2.unca.edu/ publicsafety/. According to the agency, individuals who notice suspicious activ ity or have information on these cases should visit campus police’s main office, or contact them by phone at campus ex tension 6710.
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March 31, 2010, edition 1
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