Tips from Chief Duckham against burglary:
- Lock all doors and windows, even if you will be gone only a few minutes
- Leave lights on when you are not home
- Do not leave valuables in plain sight
- Keep an inventory of your valuables
- Don’t post comings and goings on social media
The number of break-ins the University Police Department responds to typically increases during Winter Break, but this year saw more than the previous two years.
University Police Department responded to seven calls for burglary during Winter Break, an increase from zero calls after Fall Semester 2013 and one call after Fall Semester 2012.
Six of those break-ins were located off-campus. Compared to this past October, when students were in session, only one of three break-ins UPD responded to were located off-campus.
The break-ins reflected in data only includes calls the department responds to, so it does not include burglaries Muncie Police Department may have responded to, and the off-campus break-ins were not necessarily in student houses.
UPD Chief James Duckham said burglary is a crime of opportunity and thus increases over breaks because off-campus student homes are unoccupied.
“Burglars will look for residences that are unoccupied,” he said. “They also know that although the residence is unoccupied, it is not vacant. Students leave valuables in their residences when they leave.”
He said during breaks, UPD’s vehicle and foot patrol sectors or response areas stay the same as when students are in session, but patrol officers pay special attention to empty houses.
In November, UPD sent out a public safety notice to students reminding them to take caution before Winter Break, warning them of burglaries near campus.
About a month later, three burglaries occurred on Christmas Eve, within a short distance of each other, in the 1400 block of Washington and Gilbert streets.
Students from one of those houses got a call from UPD on Christmas Eve that their off-campus house had been broken into while they were away for the break.
Junior visual communication major Rachel Trewartha said the officer called to let her know the back sliding glass door had been broken, like something was thrown through it, leaving glass shards on the floor.
"Nothing was touched, luckily,” Trewartha said. “Maybe people were drunk or something, but nothing else was disturbed.”
Trewartha and her roommates said they would not have known about the break-in if UPD had not alerted them, because they were not there to report the crime.
Duckham said burglaries are discovered by officers on patrol, or reported by neighbors. If the students are not home, UPD tries to make contact with either them or the landlord.
“UPD actively patrols our response area looking for signs of residential burglaries,” he said. “If we locate something suspicious, UPD officers will investigate.”
Even if students made sure to lock their homes during break, Duckham said many students leave their homes and cars unlocked on a daily basis now that they are back. He advises students to lock homes and cars when they are unattended and to leave lights on when no one is home.
“Be a good neighbor, if you see something, say something,” Duckham said.
Trewartha said her and her housemates made sure to lock up before break and were surprised their house was targeted.
“You do think about [break-ins over break] because everybody leaves at once,” she said. “It crossed my mind but you never think it’s definitely going to happen.”
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