Eastern Michigan University has seen an increase in burglaries and thefts from motor vehicles in the past two months.
There were four burglaries on three separate days in March, all of them occurring at Best Residence Hall. All four cases are still open.
According to the EMU 2012 Annual Security Report, which covers crime statistics from 2009-11, the number of burglaries at residence halls has been declining, with nine happening in 2011 compared to the 13 reported in 2010 and the 31 from 2009.
In the past two months, there have been four occurrences of parked cars being broken into and items being taken from them. Three of them are open cases, and the fourth is classified as inactive.
By comparison, there were two cases of theft from motor vehicles in 2011, five in 2010 and four in 2009.
Student reaction to the increase has been minimal.
“I wasn’t aware, but it doesn’t surprise me either,” said Chris Stoddard, a commuting freshman and elementary education major. Stoddard said he felt safe on campus.
Bianca Sawyer, a resident senior and anthropology major, said she was not scared by the statistics, and that she felt safe on campus.
“But I could see how that could worry people,” she said.
“I didn’t know there was that many,” said Karolina Rejniak, a resident freshman and business management major.
Rejniak said she felt safe on campus, adding that the number of incidents “doesn’t affect my view.”
Visit www.emich.edu/publicsafety/police/ for more information about public safety on campus.
To look at the 2012 report, go to www.emich.edu/publicsafety/police/documents/current_yearly_crime_stats.pdf.
