Break-ins in student housing

A recent bout of break and enters has the London Police Service (LPS) advising the community to lock up and keep valuables out of sight.

Within the weeks of March 24 and April 14, police reported eight break-ins that happened to student residents.

Media relations officer Const. Ken Steeves said while one break-in is too many, the LPS felt the public needed to know.

“We felt it was important to notify the community what's happened and to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity,” he said. “What we suggest is keeping your door locked at all times and each occupant having a key to the residence. That way it minimizes the chance of any break and enter.”

In some cases, residents were at home when the break-ins occurred.

“With a couple of them, what had happened was the occupants were home at the time and thought the noise was coming from other roommates that had returned home,” said Steeves.

Steeves suggested that perpetrators know student homes contain pricy electronics, because big-ticket items such flat-screen TVs and laptops were taken.

“What they look for is knowing that students oftentimes have electronics for school, for education purposes,” he explained. “This is why they target [students].”

“Not only that, but even late night hours on weekends, oftentimes they're out celebrating or whatever the case may be, and their homes are oftentimes left unoccupied.”

However, Steeves said there is no indication that anyone's safety was at risk.

“The last thing that these criminals want is to be detected or spotted. Their purpose is not to go in and cause harm to the occupants nor would they know necessarily that anyone is home.”

The break and enters occurred in a three-block by three-block confinement of Central Avenue to Oxford Street East and Richmond Street to Talbot Street between the hours of 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Steeves recommended a few things to try to prevent more break-ins from occurring.

“Ensuring your doors are locked, looking out for your neighbours,” he said. “When students go home for the summer or long weekends; take your valuables with you ... If for any reason you decide not to, secure it in a hidden place.”

Steeves said the LPS has assigned investigators to focus solely on the cases, but hope that patrol and presence of police will help deter further crimes from happening.

It's common to have the “it can't happen to me” mentality, but Steeves said the LPS wants to do what it can to minimize crime.

“We do what we can to prevent the crime from occurring and this is just another method of notifying the public of what's occurred and the steps of which can be taken to minimize, not necessarily eliminate, but do what we can to prevent crime from continuing.”