While leaving your dorm unlocked might seem like an easy alternative to remembering your keys, a recent outbreak of thefts on campus has some students realizing the drawbacks to these kinds of habits. Director of Public Safety David Meyer says that burglars are “looking out for soft targets,” and in recent weeks both bikes and laptops have been nabbed.
The thefts, which have been particularly noticeable over the last two weeks, have prompted Public Safety, the Office of Residential Life, and many Residential Assistants to send cautionary e-mails to students who might otherwise be less vigilant about leaving doors unlocked.
Alexander Cabal sent a cautionary email to Nicolson residents after three separate thefts were reported in the dorm over the weekend.
“The Middletown Police suspect that the perpetrators have been entering the dorms through exterior doors that have been propped open, then entered similarly open rooms and removed laptops, iPods, wallets and other valuables,” Cabal wrote. “Please DO NOT prop any doors and remove objects propping outside doors if you see them.”
According to Public Safety Reports, from Sept. 24 through Sept. 30 there were four separate laptops stolen from students’ unlocked rooms. During the same time period, three student bikes were reportedly stolen. In response to the bike thefts, Public Safety engraved bikes for students and sold locks in the Usdan Center on Wednesday.
There is less, however, that Public Safety can do about the stolen laptops. So far, only one laptop has been found and returned to its owner, and Meyer claims that Public Safety is working with the Middletown Police Department to address the events surrounding that recovery. Meyer says he has no promises about whether any other computers will be found.
“[It] varies from case to case depending on who’s taking them and how they’re getting rid of them,” he said.
Meyer has seen similar thefts in the Foss Hill area before.
“Last year we had a group of thefts similar in nature in November and December,” he said. “We arrested the person responsible and then [the thefts] were done.”
Typically, Meyer says, thefts have been committed by non-students.
“Our experience in the past has been that [the perpetrators] have been non-Wesleyan students,” he said.
Nevertheless, Meyer is hesitant to jump to any conclusions about the perpetrators’ identity this semester.
Ultimately, until the thefts come to a halt, Meyer suggests that students simply lock their doors.
“It’s important to note that in all the reported cases, either a room door or a window was open and that’s how [the perpetrators] gained access,” he said. “They’re just seeing what they can grab.”
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