Tips to keep your vehicle safe from theft:
If you park your car in a storage lot like the Scheumann Stadium lot, check on it often and move it around.
Don’t park in the same place all the time.
Lock your car.
Do not store things in your car.
If there are items in your car, put them out of sight or in the trunk.
Source: Gene Burton, University Police Department chief of police
• In 2012, 25 thefts occurred in parking lots.
• In the same year, 37 total burglaries occurred on campus.
• Police say the number is not staggering, but are working to enhance security.
Police officials say the 25 parking lot thefts in 2012 is not “staggering,” but the university is undertaking a continued effort to revamp security cameras campus-wide.
In 2012, there were 60 incidents, including 25 thefts, according to the most recent University Police Department records. In 2011, 29 incidents occurred in parking lots — 18 of those incidents were theft. One rape was reported.
According to the most recent FBI crime statistics for on-campus crime at Ball State, there were 37 burglaries in 2012 and 72 burglaries in 2011.
“I’ve been here 34 years, and theft leads the category every year,” Gene Burton, UPD chief of police, said. “That’s the No. 1 crime we deal with.”
The Student Government Association recently passed an initiative to encourage the university toward security cameras in all parking lots and garages, but Burton said such efforts have been underway.
“The university has been working for over a year to get a comprehensive plan in place to upgrade cameras not only in parking lots, but all over campus,” he said.
For the 2013-2014 school year, Ball State issued 16,698 parking permits, said Parking Services office manager Nancy Wray. This means chances of a theft happening to an individual range from around one theft for 668 people in 2012 to one theft for 928 people in 2011, based on the estimated number of parking passes issued.
While the numbers are not out of the ordinary, Burton said Ball State’s designation as a suburban campus leads to more incidents.
“We don’t have the advantages of urban system with upgraded transportation systems,” he said. “The vast majority of our constituents have their own vehicle, which makes our higher than compared to an urban campus.”
Burton said the increase in incidents from 2011 to 2012 is not unusual.
“Our incidents in parking lots fluctuate; it’s cyclical from year to year,” he said. “The gross numbers are not staggering for a campus our size with 18,000 students [on campus] and faculty and staff population.”
Burton said if cost was not an issue, he would advocate for cameras in all parking lots and areas on campus.
The biggest detriment to adding more security cameras is cost, even beyond the buying cameras.
Burton said the physical camera is the cheapest part. Other expenses include a power source, monitoring the feed, providing a recording device, optics and installation.
“The human costs involved are most expensive,” he said. “The personnel to man and occupy it or to maintain it and to install it, [is] probably as much or more as the cost of equipment, and that’s a reoccurring cost.”
While many crimes are underreported, affecting the accuracy of crime statistics, Burton said he thinks the statistics for damage and theft are accurate.
Insurance companies often won’t pay a claim unless a report has been filed, so those who experience theft are likely to report, he said.
Burton advised students to move their cars around on a regular basis to deter theft.
“Most thieves breaking into car don’t go out there and say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna break into that car,’” he said. “They scout the area, they find the car they want to break into first and come back in a day. Even moving it a few rows over makes it harder to find. If they can’t find it quickly, they’ll move on.”
He said most thefts are “thefts of opportunity” and can be prevented by locking car doors and not storing items in the car or keeping them out of sight.”
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