Burglaries inspire precautions
By JASON McFARLEY
News Editor
A safety presentation Tuesday by Notre Dame Security/Police and the South Bend Police Department highlighted security concerns in two South Bend neighborhoods traditionally populated by off-campus Notre Dame and Saint Mary's students.
Residents of Turtle Creek Apartments should be on alert following several burglaries of residences there Friday and Saturday, South Bend Police Capt. Jim Hasik said.
"If you live in that area, be really careful because someone is really targeting that area right now," Hasik told about two dozen students at the Alumni-Senior Club Tuesday.
The burglaries occurred during or after large parties at the apartment complex situated just east of Notre Dame's campus, Hasik said.
At the hour-long information session, Hasik also distributed area maps detailing a rash of August residential burglaries in neighborhoods near South Bend Avenue, Eddy and LaSalle streets — all popular hubs of student housing.
The neighborhoods, part of one South Bend police detail that borders the University's campus, were also hit in August with a string of automobile break-ins, Hasik said.
"That trend is part of a city-wide proliferation of vehicle larceny," he said.
Another police detail that extends east of Eddy and includes Turtle Creek and Campus View apartment complexes also borders campus.
Hasik on Tuesday urged students to consider themselves members of both the South Bend and Notre Dame communities. As city residents, they have an obligation to safeguard themselves and their property, he said.
Hasik's colleague Capt. Wanda Shock encouraged students to take basic precautions to ensure their safety while living off campus.
Shock said all students should secure their doors with deadbolt locks and strikeplates. Good lighting outside residences act as criminal deterrents.
"Some of this basic security is something that landlords are required to provide," she said.
Students don't know about or take advantage of police-run safety programs, Shock said.
A home-watch program is available during vacations when students are away from their homes.
Students can also sign up to be neighborhood watch captains in their area. Captains receive calls about crimes that occur within five blocks of their neighborhood, and police give them descriptions of the suspects. Captains are then responsible for disseminating the information to other neighborhood residents.
Further information about either program is available at 235-9201.
Campus authorities also little-utilized safety programs, said Phil Johnson, assistant director of Notre Dame Security/Police.
During the month-long winter vacation, NDSP stores off-campus students' merchandise free of cost. In the past, officials offered the program over fall break but discontinued it due to lack of use.
Johnson said NDSP offers other valuable safety services, including a 12-hour self-defense program and allowing off-campus students to park their vehicles in University lots during vacations.
Safety is everyone's responsibility, Johnson said.
"When we talk about looking out for one another, think of it in the broadest sense of taking care of your roommates, your housemates and your friends," he said.
Johnson said Tuesday's 25-person turnout to the safety session was the largest he had spoken to in 15 years of presenting security information to students.
All News Stories for Wednesday, September 26, 2001
