• Department of Public Safety officers made sure unattended student property was secure while students were home for break.
• The large number of residences that signed up for the DPS vacant house service returned to campus to find their homes and apartments secure.
• Only one residential burglary occurred in a student residence over break.

While students went home for the holidays to spend time with family and friends, Department of Public Safety officers were on campus to make sure unattended homes, apartments, cars and other property was secure over break.

According to DPS Capt. Russ Shaw, the amount of crime that occurred over break equates to a slow week during the regular school year — even though winter break was four weeks long.

The vacant house watch service, offered by DPS to provide extra security to unattended student residencies over break, was successful in terms of both protection and participation, Shaw said.

"No houses on the watch list were burglarized over break," Shaw said. "And quite a few more students signed up for the service this year."

Shaw said 36 residences registered this year, a considerable increase from the 26 that signed up last year.

"Little by little we are trying to get that number increased," Shaw said. "I commend the students who got involved by taking a proactive approach and signing up. It helps out officers immensely when they know which residencies are vacant over break."

In total, there was only one residential burglary over break, Shaw said.

"That's a very low number — one burglary in one month's time. The crime rate was very low," Shaw said. "There was no personal crime, just a handful of property incidents."

Arthur Orville, a junior in the College of Business Administration, said that even though he didn't participate in the vacant house watch, he felt comfortable his apartment on 16th Street would be secure over break.

"When I got back to my place for the first time last week, everything was exactly how I left it," Orville said. "I didn't think anything was going to happen, and it was nice to see that everything was safe."

Piyush Saxena, a sophomore in the College of Engineering and an international student from India, was one of the few students who spent the entire break on campus in a Campus Town apartment.

"There weren't many students on campus for a lot of the break, but I did notice a lot of DPS officers patrolling," Saxena said. "It seemed like there were just as many DPS officers around as there are when classes are in session."

"When students are gone for a month, it's a major concern for us. There's a lot of property that needs to be watched over," Shaw said.