Denzel Quarterman
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A string of property theft has made its way through the Cal Poly area.
Students and many others have had phones, tablets and laptops taken from their homes. These devices are a target for thieves looking for a quick pay day, and they might take them through a window or by walking right out of your front door.
“They cut a slit in this window over here and reached in and grabbed it, and my laptop was sitting right here,” English junior Jennifer Dragan said.
Unlocked doors are an easy point of entry.
“There are many individuals that will go and will just check doorknobs, so if there is an unlocked door and no one is home, they knock, they take advantage of that opportunity and go in,” San Luis Obispo Police Department Lieutenant Jeffery Smith said. “Often, we will see a high volume of laptops, Apple products, phones, things like that, that are stolen.”
The perpetrators of these property crimes seem to be getting smarter; previously, you could look up the location of your misplaced devices using the “Find my iPhone” app, but students say that’s not enough.
“They’re pretty sophisticated,” business administration sophomore Megan Emmer said. “Now they’ve figured that you’re gonna do that, so they just take the hard drive out.”
As students prepare to go home for the upcoming holidays, the best case scenario is to take things like laptops with them, if they can, Smith said.
“Especially things that have important documents, term papers, ongoing assignments on them,” Smith said. “Take them home with you, keep them in your trunk or in your parents’ house, and bring them back when you come.”