The Triangle

Issue date: 3/12/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Michael Arrison Cars parked in the Drexel Public Safety patrol areas were given mock tickets if they had valuable items in view in an effort to increase awareness of thefts from vehicles and unattended theft around campus. "Smash and grab" crimes have grown recently and are one of the major focus areas of the Department of Public Safety.

The Drexel Police Department is cracking down on one of the major problem sources of on campus crime: theft from vehicles. In the last reported week, for instance, there were eight instances of valuables stolen from parked cars around campus.

The Drexel Police have acknowledged the problem and started a "Theft from Autos" campaign aimed at curbing the problem by raising awareness. The Drexel Department of Public safety has released a list of tips and suggestions for students looking to avoid losing their valuables.

Included in the list are several commonsense ideas like parking in well-lit areas and removing valuables from view. There are also some less obvious ideas like removing the registration and insurance cards from your car.

The information campaign is also coupled with an effort by Drexel Police to sweep the streets and search for vehicles that have valuables in plain sight and that are easily accessible.

The most recent sweep, which occurred from Jan. 13 to 20, consisted of officers walking the streets and ticketing vehicles that had items such as GPS devices, MP3 players, and cell phones which would be easily accessed in a "smash and grab" crime. Empty tickets were also left on cars that did not have valuables so that potential thieves did not have an easy way to identify cars with valuables.

The DUPD defined smash and grab crimes as crimes of opportunity where someone sees high price electronics or other valuables easily accessible through the window of the vehicle. Criminals can quickly break the window and grab the valuables within a few seconds.

During the campaign a total of 1,424 vehicles were checked. According to the police, 22 percent of the vehicles were found to have something of value in plain site for a total of 208 tickets distributed.

The Department of Public Safety and the Drexel Police Department have both announced that they plan to continue the program throughout the year, although Director of Police Operations Ed Spangler said that no specific date was set for a new sweep.

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