Robberies have reached record levels for University of York students in off-campus accommodation.
The York Community Watch declared that in December 2011 there were three aggravated burglaries, up from one in the same month the year before, and 65 attempted burglaries, an increase from the previous year’s 45.
A third-year Psychology student told Vision about the robbery his house experienced over the Christmas holidays: “They broke in through a back window and bolted the front door in case we came back. They took an Xbox, broken mobile phone, digital camera, and my bottle of vodka. They wanted small things of high value.”
“It would have been so much worse had we been living there. We’d secured the house up since none of us were there over Christmas – if we had left our bedroom doors unlocked we wouldn’t have had the mess of smashed doors, but then we couldn’t have claimed on insurance. You just never think it’ll happen to you though.”
York boasts lower rates compared to the national average in eight out of ten crime categories. But for ‘Burglary’ and ‘Other theft offences’, York’s statistics are “exceptionally high” according to a spokesperson for the York Community Watch. Information released by the Home Office regarding data collected by police forces in England and Wales between 2010 and 2011 revealed that York’s burglary rate was 10.5 per 1,000 people, compared to the national average of 9.6, and ‘Other theft offences’ was 26.3 compared to 19.3.
There has been an increase in opportunist burglaries (those that have not had forced entry, primarily through an unlocked door or window) from houses in multiple occupation.
Since 2005, when the University had a peak of 80 burglaries on campus in one year, this rate has been steadily reducing, and was just 12 cases in 2009. With the enhanced security provided for on-campus accommodation, thieves are looking towards houses of multiple occupation which provide the ideal opportunity for easy theft.
With many students possessing expensive electronic equipment such as laptops, iPods, phones, cameras, and televisions, thieves can simply pick up and walk out with four or five of each item from an environment that is likely to be less secure than on-campus accommodation.
In an attempt to raise awareness to these issues, the Safer York Partnership, Neighbourhood Watch, North Yorkshire Police, University of York and Yorkshire Housing have collaborated to organise four days on-campus to publicise home security.
In addition, Operation Spoke is an ongoing North Yorkshire police campaign to help reduce bike theft experienced by members of the public and York students. With 11,900 bikes registered since January 2009, the scheme claims to have decreased cycle theft on campus from 83 cases in 2010 to just 37 incidents during 2011.
Jane Grenville, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for students, said Campus Security have chased off three groups of bike thieves and, working with the police, they arrested one person in association with the bike robberies.
Grenville encouraged students to buy D-locks, which are available to buy from Campus Security for just £10. She warned students: “Don’t buy an expensive bike, that way it will hurt less if it is stolen.”
For information on how to keep safe, drop by the stalls situated in the library (17 January) and the Ron Cooke Hub (20 January), or email [email protected], twitter: @yorkwatch, Facebook: York Neighbourhood Watch.