Larcenies, break-ins most common crimes on campus
College campuses are not usually associated with massive crime waves.
But larcenies and breaking and enterings have become increasingly common.
The Central Michigan University Police Department reported 615 criminal investigations in 2008, 227 of them including burglaries and larcenies, according to an annual police report.
While violent acts such as homicide have been traditionally rare at universities, students often take for granted the possibility of their valuables being stolen.
“We ask everybody to lock your doors all the time, whether it’s cars, doors, wherever you’re living,” said CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley. “The other part is to write down serial numbers and descriptions of your valuables.”
Other universities in Michigan are finding similar problems year after year.
In the last issued annual report at Michigan State University, 614 felonies were reported in 2007. Of that number, 509 were reported burglaries and larcenies, more than twice as high as CMU’s amount a year later.
Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor, public information officer for the MSU Police Department, said the population difference is often a factor when it comes to larger crime numbers compared to other universities.
“Our housing system on campus is the largest in the nation,” she said. “Despite that, the campus is overall pretty safe.”
Off campus
Breaking and enterings are prevalent off campus as well. Despite the term, the crime does not necessarily have to mean forced entry, said Dave Sabuda, public information officer for the Mount Pleasant Police Department. It can simply be a matter of a door being left unlocked or open.
“It’s been happening a lot over the last few years,” Sabuda said. “These kinds of things can’t be solved by us alone.”
He said if such a crime occurs, the victim should immediately contact the police so they have a better chance of detaining the suspect rather than hesitating and waiting until later.
The problem with thefts is especially prevalent when it comes to bicycles, said CMU Community Police Officer Mike Sienkiewicz.
“Our number one crime continues to be bike larcenies,” he said. “We are really trying to encourage people to take it upon themselves to register their bikes.”
Yeagley said he hopes to eventually do an analysis of how CMU compares to other universities when it comes to campus crimes, particularly ones of similar sizes.
“I have not done that yet, that’s part of the assessment,” he said. “But my experience tells me that we’re right on par.”
Local Attorney Todd Levitt said he has been fortunate to see very few crimes against people’s safety on and off campus during his time in Mount Pleasant.
“You don’t see any of the big type of cases that are identifiable with big cities,” he said. “You don’t see the violent crimes on campus.”
