Helping students to crack crime

6:00pm Monday 20th October 2008

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A TEAM of police officers welcomed new students to the University of York by offering them a lesson in crime prevention.

Heslington Safer Neighbourhood Team set up a stand at the university’s annual freshers’ fair to give out advice to the new arrivals.

They also put on extra patrols on the campus to deter opportunist thieves from swooping on unlocked cars while students moved into their new accommodation.

Last year, crime at the university’s Heslington campus fell by 36 per cent.

Sergeant Andy Haigh, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “Targeting freshers when they first arrived is really important.

“For many of them, it’s their first time away from home and they don’t think of even simple things like locking windows and doors.

“We’ve been giving them advice and making them aware that criminals are likely to target them because they are naïve.”

Police community support officers (PCSOs) and police officers spoke to more than 1,000 freshers over the three-day initiative.

They also handed out crime prevention leaflets, panic alarms and 500 cycle tags.

Students were encouraged to register the serial numbers of their belongings on immobilise.com – an online database that allows police to track down their rightful owners if they are stolen.

Sergeant Haigh said: “Since we started targeting freshers with crime prevention advice three years ago, we have seen a massive fall in crime.

“Having more PCSOs on patrol has also made a difference, as well as making the university even securer than it was.”

The number of incidents at the university’s Heslington campus fell from 294 in 2005 to 243 in 2006.

This fell again to 156 in 2007, and so far this year, 115 crimes have been reported.

Most of these incidents wre either burglaries or thefts, mainly of bikes.

Students are advised to:

* Lock the doors to their accommodation and take care not to let in strangers through communal doors.

* Take care not to leave equipment such as laptops unattended.

* Keep windows locked.

* Lock bikes up securely in a well-lit area.

* Generally be aware of who is around them, even when they are on campus.

Anyone who has concerns about crime on campus or who wants some security advice can phone the Safer Neighbourhood Team on 0845 6060247.