Off-campus burglars prey on students, easy entry to homes

North Oakland resident and first-year pharmacy student Kyle Carlson returned to his… North Oakland resident and first-year pharmacy student Kyle Carlson returned to his apartment last Friday afternoon to find that he was the latest victim of a burglary.

His laptop and $600 in cash had apparently been lifted by someone who crawled in through a window from his building’s fire escape. Although he did put his name on the laptop, he’s already looking to get a new one with the help of his parents’ home insurance.

Robin Shahdadian, a Pitt senior, was luckier. A burglar came into his South Oakland house on Louisa Street one day in late August, but Shahdadian stopped him in time to prevent any theft.

“He was going to take my book bag, but he dropped it when I came downstairs,” Shahdadian recalled. “He came in through my living room window. I thought I heard someone and thought my friend’s dad was downstairs, so I went down and saw this guy running out the window.”

These two accounts illustrate textbook cases of burglaries in Oakland — students are notoriously favorite targets of burglaries. Laptops and book bags are among the most frequent stolen items, and usually all it takes to prevent these thefts is to keep a window locked.

According to city police burglary squad Detective John Mihalcin, Oakland has one of the highest concentrations of burglaries in Pittsburgh, and students are the No. 1 reason.

“Oakland is probably one of the highest [rating] areas, probably in the top three,” Mihalcin said. “Oakland is and always has been a place with a lot of burglaries. It’s mostly because of the new students who live there, they don’t know how to secure their home, and they make mistakes like leaving their doors and windows open. It’s easy pickings, and burglars take advantage.”

Pitt Police’s University Community Relations Officer Ron Bennett believes that, however slowly, students in Oakland are starting to wise up against burglaries.

“They’re [students] becoming more aware of the possibility of these things occurring, like the theft thing,” said Bennett. “They’re becoming more careful about their belongings and making sure things are protected.”

Numbers from the latest Jeanne Clery Act Statistics Report support Bennett’s assessment, at least, according to the latest statistics ending in 2005. The combined number of total burglaries reported to University officials, Pittsburgh city police and the Pitt Police have been practically halved from 73 in 2003 to 36 in 2005.

However, Mihalcin feels that burglaries have been on the rise recently.

“I would say there has been an increase in burglaries and break-ins over the last year,” Mihalcin said. “I think one reason for the increase is the increase of heroin use in the city, which is happening around the nation as well. I would say 95 percent of burglaries here are committed by heroin addicts. It’s that bad.”

Because of the nature of these criminals, the vast majority of the 3,000 to 4,000 burglaries that happen in Pittsburgh every year do not involve violent confrontations.

“The burglaries we [the burglary squad] deal with very seldom involve violence. Heroin addicts are usually not violent,” Mihalcin continued, “and many probably would rather not be doing [heroin]. But they need to support their habit, and turn to burglary because it’s generally a non-violent, non-confrontational kind of crime.”

Mihalcin also asserts that the large student presence in Oakland is a magnet for burglars, who see students as by far the easiest targets for a quick break-in.

“Students are definitely the highest demographic [for victims of burglaries]. The vast majority of burglaries in Oakland happen to students,” Mihalcin said.

“We ask burglars themselves why they often steal from students, and they tell us, they know that students are easy to steal from. They know that students tend to leave windows and doors open. They know students have the latest electronic equipment, like laptops. They often try to steal book bags, because who’s going to stop someone carrying a book bag in Oakland?”

The advice for students wary of break-ins is simple: lock your doors and windows. Now people just have to actually do it.

“It sounds obvious to do things like keep your door locked, but it’s so often not followed,” Mihalcin said.

“Students often leave their doors and windows open or unlocked, especially when they’re on the upper floors of a building. People may think they’re safer if they’re on an upper floor, but people can still find a way in. A lot use the fire escape. Burglars also can get in when students leave the doors of their building propped open, especially to let people in for parties.”

Another precaution is to keep laptops and other expensive items from being seen through windows, as sometimes burglars just snatch things they see in windows.

Bennett echoes Mihalcin’s sentiment that the onus is on the students as far as preventing break-ins is concerned.

“Be responsible,” Bennett said. When the freshmen come in with their parents, the first thing they ask is how safe is the campus. My basic response to them is it’s as safe as the student allows it to be.”