Theft of property from dorms frequent, usually hard to solve

This is the third part of a five-part series on crime in Oakland and on campus. Read The Pitt… This is the third part of a five-part series on crime in Oakland and on campus. Read The Pitt News for the remainder of this week for more crime coverage.

Carelessness can cost a lot these days.

According to Best Buy Co. Inc., iPods and MP3 players can range in price from $70 to $300. Xbox 360s cost anywhere from $300 to $500 and laptop computers are priced from $600 to $3500. When these relatively portable electronics are stolen out of a dormitory, the cost of safety seems low in comparison.

In 2005, 36 burglaries were reported to the Pitt Police, while 15 of them were from on-campus residential facilities. There were 73 reported burglaries in 2004, with 23 of those reported being on-campus. Despite the decreasing numbers, student-on-student theft is still a major crime at Pitt.

Pitt Police Chief Tim Delaney and Community Relations Officer Ron Bennett said that theft is one of two crimes in which Pitt affiliates are most often involved.

Ricky Woler, a freshman and Litchfield Tower B resident, had valuables taken from his room on Sept. 9. Somewhere between the hours of 1 a.m. and 9 a.m., Woler’s Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop was stolen from his unlocked dorm room.

“When I woke up, my computer was gone, so I called the campus police right away and filed a report. I can only suspect that it was someone in Tower B,” Woler said.

Tower B resident Ezra Blumenthal said the same thing about his experience. In the early morning of Sept. 23, Blumenthal woke up around 4:30 and forgot to relock his door after returning from the restroom.

About 20 minutes later, Blumenthal woke up when someone walked out of his room with his Xbox 360 and five games, totaling about $800.

“I yelled after him as he was walking out, but then he bolted and I lost him in the stairwell,” Blumenthal recalled.

He immediately went to the security desk and told the officer on duty to stop anyone leaving the tower.

“I believe it was someone from Tower B because it was way too late. They had to have been here and known that my roommate and I were both in bed.”

“Also, people see friends and I playing Xbox a lot, so would have known exactly where it was,” Blumenthal added.

Both Delaney and Bennett agree that there have never been dorm burglaries by people who entered without being signed in by a resident or authorized to enter. The only time that it occurs is if a resident signs in someone else. In these instances, Pitt Police goes after not only the guest, but also the host student.

“We hit this pretty heavy,” Delaney said. “If you sign somebody in, you’re responsible for them and their actions. They did something, as far as I’m concerned, you did it.”

Hillman Library can be a target for crimes as well, considering the large number of students in one place. If students leave their belongings unattended on a table, it creates a perfect opportunity for someone to pick items up and walk away. Even stolen notes are considered theft.

Unfortunately, recovering the stolen property is a rarity, Bennett said.

“The only time it’s really gotten back is if whoever the perpetrator is decides to keep all the stuff in one place, and then they’re caught in another situation and we go to the house and see that he has other stuff there, too,” Bennett said.

The director and assistant director of Residence Life refused to comment on the situation, but Pitt’s “For Safety’s Sake” Web site gives students some tips on how to protect their belongings: -Lock your door every time you leave. -Engrave expensive equipment and valuables with an ID number. -Don’t attach your Pitt ID or any other identification to your key chain. -Don’t leave your belongings (books, gym bags, backpacks, calculators, coats, etc.) unattended in libraries, hallways, gym facilities or classrooms.

Woler and Blumenthal also recommended having a laptop lock that connects to the desk, as well as locking your room even if you are just going next door.

This all may seem like a burden, but students must decide if the extra effort is worth the cost of an Xbox or a computer.

Look in tomorrow’s issue of The Pitt News and read Part 4 of this five-part crime series. Coming up tomorrow: Off-campus break-ins.