When Brianna Johns de Moll goes home for spring break, she’ll be taking everything she owns with her — not because she needs it, but because she’s scared it will get stolen.

“I woke up to police cars outside my window last time there was a burglary on Small Road,” said de Moll, a sophomore communications design major. “I’m just not taking that risk.”

According to Department of Public Safety Chief Tony Callisto, DPS will still be in full force during Spring Break.

Although there has been a number of burglaries this semester, Callisto said they are occurring less frequently than in the past. In light of this, DPS will not be taking any extra security precautions over break but will be maintaining its normal level of Spring Break security. If there is a spike in burglaries, DPS will increase monitoring in that area, he said.

“On South Campus, we’ll have full staffing during the break,” Callisto said. “There will be officers there 24 hours a day, and our residence hall officers are actually on duty throughout the break, also. We’ll be checking residence halls on a regular basis.”

This week, Crime Prevention officers are rattling the doors of South Campus apartments to see if they’re locked as part of the “Lock Your Door” campaign. The officers also hang safety tips on the doorknobs of South Campus and off-campus apartments. This is done about six times a year, especially before breaks, said Crime Prevention manager James Thompson.

“We found 40 apartments unlocked that we could have walked right into,” Thompson said of the South Campus rounds on Tuesday. “Sometimes there’s up to 100 to 150 apartments found open while we’re walking around.”

The recently installed security cameras on both Main Campus and South Campus will continue to be monitored constantly as well, Callisto said.

The most recent campus burglary occurred in DellPlain Hall on Feb. 28. A laptop, wallet, an iPod and $126 were stolen from the fifth floor. There was no evidence of forced entry, Callisto told the Daily Orange. DPS could not determine if the items were stolen by an SU student or a Syracuse resident, Callisto said.

DPS’s Crime Prevention Unit has joined forces with the Office of Residence Life to remind students of proper safety precautions to take regardless of whether they are staying here, going home or traveling abroad.

DPS and ORL are also handing out and placing fliers on cars with general safety tips and important phone numbers, Callisto said. Thompson also said South Campus has sent out a mass e-mail issuing the same advice on the fliers.

“We certainly want to remind students that they shouldn’t forget about their property back here at Syracuse,” Callisto said. “They should lock their doors, put dowels in place in sliding doors and windows on South Campus, and lock their residence hall doors as they leave for the break.”

Students who are leaving their cars on campus should also be sure to make sure nothing inside them is in plain sight, Callisto said.

DPS also wants to make sure students staying on campus keep safety in mind, Callisto said.

“We want people to report to us anything that’s unusual behavior,” Callisto said.

Unusual behavior includes people walking around trying doorknobs to see if they’re unlocked, entering a neighbor’s apartment where they do not live or walking around with suspicious tools, Callisto said. He also said students should alert DPS if they hear the sound of broken glass.

Published on March 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm