The Grinch steals somebody’s Christmas every year. Along with snow, carols and crowded stores comes a sharp increase in burglaries and vandalism, according to Madison police.
MPD Detective Samantha Kellogg said she knows Christmas has come when her workload begins to mount.
In a quiet city where citizens’ most frequent complaint is that drivers disregard parking laws, people can develop a false sense of safety, police said.
When UW-Madison senior John Trinton transferred from UW-Beloit, he moved into a small apartment building on the 200 block of East Johnson Street. After a long day of studying, he returned to his apartment building to find a man walking down the staircase with a stereo under his arm, he said. Trinton stood aside to let the man pass by and continued up the stairs to his apartment. When he opened his apartment door, he found one of his roommates knocked out on the floor.
“The guy I passed on the stairs had hit my roommate on the back of the head and took off with his stereo,” Trinton said.
Trinton moved from East Johnson to Hancock Street because the area felt safer, he said. Trinton said he still leaves his doors unlocked.
Both Madison Police Department spokesperson Larry Kamholz and Kellogg agree that failing to lock doors is the most common mistake people make before their apartments are burglarized.
“People wake up to find strangers in their apartments when they thought their roommates were home,” Kellogg said. “That’s really scary because you don’t know what else that person may do. And when people leave for the holidays, it’s an open target.”
Gifts stacked beneath twinkling trees beside windows are like flashing welcome signs to burglars, Kamholz said. So are student apartments left vacant during winter vacation.
“Burglars go for things that are easy to walk away with,” Kellogg said.
According to Kellogg, thieves are looking for CDs, jewelry and laptops. She has seen many students lose things that are irreplaceable.
“One girl had her senior thesis on her laptop stolen and she didn’t have it backed up on disk,” said Kellogg.
Police rarely find the culprits, who generally strike unseen at night when witnesses are not around, she said.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, suggested students take advantage of the Madison city law that requires landlords to provide deadbolt locks on apartment doors and locks on windows.
“Students should take some simple steps,” Verveer said. “They should make sure everything is secure before they leave.”
To help prevent theft:
Madison police advise putting valuables out of sight and labeling things, like CDs, with initials. Draw the shades, so burglars cannot see into apartments. Temporarily stop newspaper and mail delivery. Take small items, like jewelry and family heirlooms, with you. Tell your landlord that you will be gone and provide a phone number where you can be reached. Record serial numbers on expensive items, such as bicycles and computers, so they can be returned to you if they are stolen and recovered. If you notice suspicious activity around your apartment building, call the police.
