When sophomore business major Sean Madden drove his 2001 DodgeRam from the Dedman II parking lot, he noticed a problem. Afterinserting a CD into his car stereo, Madden noticed his subwooferwas not working. He pulled over to check for a loose wire. That wasnot the problem. Instead, he discovered his amplifier was missingand that his car handle had been broken.
“It was a Christmas present from my dad,” Maddensaid. “I was upset.”
Madden’s stolen amplifier is part of a disturbing trend.In 2003, there were 50 car burglaries at SMU — an increase ofover 60 percent compared with 2002. Forty-nine of these theftsremain unsolved.
According to Sgt. Christine Rodriguez of the SMU PoliceDepartment, one reason for the increasing number of car burglariesis simply being in Dallas.
“Car burglaries are the biggest crime in the Dallasarea,” Rodriguez said.”Burglars are especially drawn to … collegesand universities. These areas are easy targets.”
However, the number of car burglaries in Dallas in 2003increased only slightly from 2002. According to the Dallas PoliceDepartment Web site, there were 30,206 car burglaries in Dallas in2003, a 7 percent increase over the previous year.
SMU police hope that the university’s extensive electronicsurveillance system will help reduce the number of car burglariesin 2004.
Lt. Richard Salazar, who installs and maintains the campuscamera system, said there are more than 130 cameras at SMU.However, Salazar said there are many areas that cameras cannotsurvey because of the large number of trees on campus.
“You’ve got blind spots all over the place,”Salazar said. “It makes camera placementdifficult.”
Rodriguez said SMU police will focus its efforts on high crimeareas. “If we have an area of campus that is being targetedby car thieves, we will increase our normal patrols ofthe area to prevent further car thefts,” she said.
In 2003, the Dedman III parking lot near the Cinco Center had 14car burglaries, the largest number for one area. Binkley Avenuecame in second with 11 burglaries. In 2002, 12 car burglarieshappened at Dedman III while only two occurred on BinkleyAvenue.
Rodriguez said police are concentrating their efforts on theareas where car burglaries occur most frequently.
“Officers conduct directed patrols of thoseareas where vehicles are being targeted the most,”Rodriguez said. “Occasionally, we assign an officer inan unmarked car to lots that are consistently being hit duringa short period of time.”
Police are asking for help from students, faculty and staff inan effort to lower the number of car burglaries this year.
“The best chance we have of catching these burglarsis by counting on the public to report suspicious persons or peoplebreaking into vehicles,” Rodriguez said. “Our bestinformation on crimes comes from observant students andcitizens.”
Car owners can help prevent car burglaries by taking preventiveactions to discourage thieves.
“Prevention begins with the owner of the vehicle lockingtheir doors, removing high dollar or electronic equipment from view[and] removing stereo face plates,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said that car owners should protect themselvesfrom identity theft by not leaving credit card receipts or ID cardsin their cars.
