U of M car theft stats decrease, more police patrol adds to safety

The University's Police Services has reported 13 car thefts thisyear, compared to 15 in all of 2002.

To combat the increase, U of M police officers are taking a moreactive approach to crime prevention.

Police Services has increased the number of plain-clothesofficers in parking lots in an attempt to bring these car thefts toa halt .

"Last year was just outstanding. Really the last two years werelow, and we have just started an upward trend," said Derek Myers,deputy director of Police Services.

Myers attributes the upward trend in car thefts to a constantfluctuation in auto thefts in general.

"You never can tell why the numbers are fluctuating," he said."It could be a combination of things. What I wonder about is howmany people are in jail for crimes like these. You usually don'tserve a lot of time for break-in crimes, so it depends on who hasgotten out for crimes in the recent past."

In 2001, there were 23 auto thefts, and in 2002, the numberdropped again to 15, according to U of M officers.

This year, Myers said, there were two auto thefts in January,six in February, four in March and one so far in April.

The last auto theft on campus was on April Fool's Day.

"We hadn't changed anything from the past years," Myers said."But when we noticed the upward trend, we did increase the numberof officers patrolling the parking lots."

Myers said most of the thefts happen during the day, whenstudents are coming and going to classes, and there are more carsin the lots.

"During the day, it is much easier to steal a car from the lots,because there are several thousands of cars and it would be easy tobreak in without being noticed," Myers said.

It appears the officers' approach to the problem is working.Since Police Services has stepped up the number of officerspatrolling the parking lots, there have been no more break-ins.

"We redirected resources, and now we have more plain-clothesofficers instead of uniformed officers," Myers said.