In a college atmosphere, locking up your doors seems to be the last thing on students' minds before heading Uptown. However, with the recent wave of break-ins, students are urged to take precaution.
According to the Oxford Police Department (OPD) Records Office, five residential burglaries have occurred in the Oxford area in the past two weeks alone. In each of these instances, students were targeted and personal possessions such as laptop computers, textbooks and various electronic devices were taken from their homes.
"It's something you would never expect in a college town like Oxford," Senior Kelsey O'Brien said.
O'Brien's home was broken into two Fridays ago. The break in that occurred in her home, located on University Street, was one of two that occurred that night.
According to O'Brien, a second break-in occurred right down the street. Both houses had thrown parties earlier in the night for their sorority's social and had left for the party around 10 p.m. The break-ins occurred just hours later at approximately 2 a.m.
"Between both houses, there were about $30,000 worth of personal belongings that were taken," O'Brien said.
In O'Brien's house alone, three laptop computers, one Microsoft tablet, one Kindle, one pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, one Marc Jacobs watch and a backpack filled with textbooks were stolen.
O'Brien reported that their doors were unlocked and the perpetrator came in through their kitchen window.
"It was very clearly a forced entry," O'Brien said. "There were muddy footprints throughout the house, but when the police dusted for prints, there were none to be found."
Police also speculated the burglar was a female because of the small nature of the footprints.
According to OPD Officer Jon Varley, in cases like these, OPD investigates by dusting for fingerprints and footprints in the home.
"We also contact pawn shops in the surrounding areas," Varley said. "If any missing personal items turn up we can usually track that person down through security footage."
Varley said while there has definitely been a spike in break-ins over the past two weeks in Oxford, they have seen spikes like this before.
"The biggest thing students can do is to be aware that the break-ins are occurring and be extra conscientious of their belongings," Varley said.
Varley said these types of break ins typically occur in situations where the residents living in the home have thrown parties earlier in the night.
"A lot of the cases we have seen in the past have involved the actual burglar being at the party," Varley reported. "That person will scope out the house and come back later in the night when the residents are Uptown and they can easily grab valuable items."
Varley also reported that in nearly every case of residential burglary, homes have been left unlocked throughout the night.
While there have not been email blasts sent out to students, Miami University's website has posted updates describing the nature of the burglaries along with their locations. Each of the break-ins have occurred on weekends late at night when students are most likely to be out.
The website also warns students to lock their doors at all times and make sure each housemate has a key to the home.
"I think in the college atmosphere a lot of students neglect to lock up their doors because they assume the area is totally immune to crimes such as these break-ins," Miami University Police Department Lt. Ben Spilman said.
According to Spilman, students can protect themselves by being more aware of their surroundings and by paying extra attention to the crime reports posted by the university.
"We have an institutionalized response team here at the university," Spilman said. "We try our best to notify students as often as possible when a crime is occurring in the area."
Members of the community are also trying to urge students living in houses Uptown to protect themselves and their property. Schmates home rentals, a local realtor, sent out a mass email to all of the residents living on their properties around town.
The email, in response to the recent wave of break-ins in the area, was composed of a detailed list of prevention strategies for students living in houses Uptown.
Some of these tips included keeping all personal belongings inside the home and keeping doors locked at all times. Schmates home rentals also urges all residents to leave lights on when they go out and to watch out for their neighbors' homes.
"It's disturbing that these crimes are occurring so frequently," O'Brien said. "Ultimately, I hope people learn from what happened to us that it is so important to lock your doors even in a place like Oxford."