Technology Devices Are Attractive in Car Break-Ins

by Ashley Bene

After a long day of classes, University of Georiga student Lindley Curtis walks to her car parked in the North Campus Parking deck without worrying.

Despite the “crime emergency” the Athens-Clarke County Police declared near the end of the summer, the senior public relations major from Jonesboro, Ga., doesn’t worry too much about what she’ll find when she gets there.

Despite her friend’s car being broken into last year, she still doesn’t worry too much. Her friend left his iPod on the front seat, which she thinks sparked the break-in. She said she takes her iPod and GPS device with her whenever she leaves her car.

“I’m very conscious of my surroundings and I make sure every time I leave my car that I pick everything up off the seat,” Curtis said.

While the Athens “crime emergency” hasn’t affected on-campus crime, the University of Georgia Police Department warns students to be safe and keep their personal items out of their cars.

Corporal Darrell Ponder of the UGA Police Department said that while on-campus vehicle break-ins haven’t been on the rise this semester, students should always take precautions to keep their valuables like iPods or laptops safe.

“Lock your doors,” Ponder said. “Roll up your windows, and anything of value, take it with you.”

Thieves tend to be looking for things they can grab quickly, according to Ponder. Small electronics items like iPods, GPS devices, or even laptops are most likely to attract thieves. Even change in the center console can spark a break-in.

“The main thing we find is a lot of the time people leave items of value in their car,” Ponder said.

Although being on a campus can make students feel safer, Ponder warns against students letting their guards down. He says people forget UGA is an open campus, and its not just people from outside breaking into cars either. It can be students too.

“Sometimes people just walk by and pull on door handles and if the car is unlocked, they get your stuff,” Ponder said.

Jennifer Bell, a sophomore Spanish and geography major from Lawrenceville, Ga., says she went to a police seminar about staying safe around campus.

“After going to that, I definitely stepped it up.”

Bell said she keeps valuable items, like her iPod, on her at all times. The only things she leaves in her car are clothes or similar personal items.

“I set my car alarm, but I feel that no one’s going to steal anything,” she said.

Ponder warns that parking decks tend to be the most heavily hit. They are more difficult for police to patrol because of the many levels.

Parking lots closer to downtown are also more likely to be hit.

Felicia Johnson, the Digital Imaging Coordinator in the UGA Main Library, said she feels especially safe parking in the North Campus Parking deck, but she still tries not to leave items of value in her car.

“I don’t intentionally leave items of value in my car,” she said. “If I do, it was an accident.”

And as for using a car alarm, Ponder cautions that it’s not a sure-fire safety device.

“Alarms go off so much, they don’t mean anything to people,” Ponder said. “If the police hear an alarm, we’ll usually go investigate though.”

Ponder said sometimes students who come from small towns or affluent areas aren’t as diligent about locking their car doors as they should be.

Curtis said crime in her hometown has made her more aware.

“I have to take those precautions whether I’m at home or in Athens” Curtis said. “It’s just something that, because of where I grew up, it’s a habit.”













A student walks to her car in the Reed Hall Parking lot.
(Photo/Ashley Bene)

Edited by Dana Hortman