A walk through Troy H. Middleton Library during midterms or finals week reveals a sea of students sprawled out with notebooks and laptops.
But when students get up to use the restroom or grab a snack, many often leave what can add up to thousands of dollars’ worth of electronics unattended.
And that is precisely when thieves make a move, said LSU Police Department spokesman Capt. Cory Lalonde.
Students leaving belongings unattended accounts for anywhere from four to seven thefts during every midterms week and four to eight during every finals week, according to LSUPD crime statistics dating back to fall 2010.
“It’s concentrated to where students are studying,” Lalonde said. “Most of the time, it happens when they’re taking a break.”
It doesn’t matter whether the students are gone for one minute or 30 minutes — the thefts are “crimes of opportunity,” Lalonde said.
The most frequently stolen items are laptops, purses, cell phones, wallets and tablets, he said.
To avoid these types of thefts, Lalonde said students should take their belongings with them if they have to get up for any period of time or leave them guarded by a trustworthy friend.
He said students should be wary of asking a stranger studying around them to watch their things because the person may not be dependable or may be distracted.
Accounting freshman Taylor Robertson said she often leaves her MacBook unattended, though she sometimes asks another student to watch her things.
“As I come here more, I ask less,” she said.
Ben Rau, sociology senior, said he feels that he can trust other students with his belongings more during the day than at night.
“I find that most people leave each other’s stuff alone,” he said. “If I’m here at night, I’ll ask someone to watch it.”
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid these crimes and help police recover stolen goods.
Lalonde said students with smartphones should install applications such as Find My iPhone or Where’s My Droid, which allow users to pinpoint the location of their phones via GPS.
Other programs like Hidden allow users to locate their MacBook’s location and use the iSight camera can take pictures of the thief.
Though these programs can allow students to locate their electronics, students shouldn’t take matters into their own hands.
“They need to notify police,” Lalonde said. “You could wind up putting yourself in a very dangerous situation.”
Other than taking responsibility for their own belongings, students can help mitigate the problem by reporting any suspicious activity they see to LSUPD.
“Some people do it more than once,” he said. “And if we can get them, we can recover others’ stolen property.”
