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Top 10 Items Stolen on College Campuses

One of the most common types of campus crime in this day and age is theft, including dorm room theft. Through this article you are presented with an overview of the top ten most common items that are being stolen on college campuses in this day and age, including from dorm room. The reality is that by coming to a clear understanding of what items are commonly stolen you will be in the best possible position to protect yourself from this type of campus crime.

When considering campus crime and college crime, property crimes of different types continue the top the list. By this it is meant that the majority of crimes that are reported on college campuses each year are thefts. (While violent crimes such as batteries and homicides garner huge headlines, it remains theft of personal property that is most ubiquitous on college and university campuses in the 21st century.) According to statistics from law enforcement authorities, the ten most common types of property items that are stolen as part of college crime include: cash, credit and debit cards, laptop computers, hand held electronics, bikes, televisions, other electronic devices, books, jewelry and materials that are misappropriated for identity theft.

Most stolen Items (in no particular order):

• cell phones

• iPods

• laptops

• cash

• bicycles

• books

• jewelry

• credit and debit cards

• materials used for identity theft

• televisions

One of the types of property commonly stolen from a college student – including in a dorm room theft – is cash, plain and simple. The fact is that there still are students who keep too much cash on hand in their dorm rooms (and in their pockets). A dorm room safe can be a useful tool in lessening the chance that you will be the victim of a theft of cash. As an aside, and along these same lines, a common campus crime at this point in time is the theft of credit and debit cards.

Statistics demonstrate that when it comes to college crime and items stolen on college campuses, laptop computers are also a major target of thieves. Laptops regularly are stolen as the result of dorm room theft. Moreover, laptops regularly are swiped in libraries, coffee shops and other areas at which students congregate.

Electronics of different types are also major targets when it comes to items that are stolen from college students. This includes hand held devices that students commonly use and have in their possession. Once again, these hand held devices – cell phones and iPods by way of example – are stolen as part of dorm room theft and are stolen from backpacks and other carriers when students are away from their dorm rooms.

Interestingly, there has been a marked increase in the number of bicycles that are being stolen on college and university campuses each term. According to law enforcement studies, one of the reasons is that there has been a sharp increase in the number of students (and professors for that matter) who are riding bikes with regularity. Moreover, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies believe that when it does come to college crime, the number of bikes that will be stolen in the immediate future is expected to climb upward even further due to the downturn in the economy.

Televisions remain fairly high on the list of stolen property, most sets obviously being taken as a part of dorm room theft or burglary. Additionally, in analyzing the statistics associated with college crime and dorm room theft, it is apparent that other types of electronics are also being stolen with regularity – further emphasizing the need to make sure that you do take steps to fully secure your own dorm room.

Books and class related supplies are also a fairly frequent target for thieves on campus. When it comes to this type of campus crime, books and the like are more frequently stolen at the start of a new term. Needless to say, the individuals involved in this type of college crime very likely are fellow students. As with the theft of bikes, this type of student crime is expected to increase as the economy becomes even more troublesome.

Quite like the rest of society, when it does come to dorm room theft, jewelry remains a prime target and on the top ten list. Yet again, this is still another reason while dorm room security is so crucial. Finally, over the past five years theft of documents and other materials from students (and the theft of information from computers) has become far more commonplace in the furtherance of identify theft. As is the case with the general public, when it comes to college student safety it is vital that a student take affirmative steps to protect his or her personal and financial information.

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