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In addition to a leopard-print scarf and an autographed picture of Matt Damon, Ashley Adams received a much less pleasant gift this Christmas. While she was home for the holidays, her St. Stephen Street apartment was broken into and hundreds of dollars in jewelry was taken. Every other apartment on her floor was broken into as well, leaving a hallway of doors bashed in or hanging open into deserted apartments.
Holiday break-ins are not unusual in areas largely populated by college students, many of whom go home for the holidays. James Ferrier, associate director of public safety, said this is particularly true of off-campus apartments, since they do not benefit from the protection of the Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD).
“If you drew a circle around what you consider our campus, all the crime rate inside that circle is lower than if you go outside the circle,” Ferrier said. “It’s largely because the university police patrol within that circle and the bad guys know it.”
He said within its jurisdiction, the NUPD keeps a careful lookout for burglary during the holidays.
“The campus empties out so much that our calls for service are less, and so our officers have time to focus on burglary prevention,” Ferrier said. “We did stop some people with long burglary records who were walking around carrying duffel bags.”
Despite these precautions holiday burglaries still happen, as evidenced by the St. Stephen Street break-ins. Some of the apartments in the building – including Adams’ – were Northeastern leased apartments, while others were rented independently. Ferrier said Northeastern officials were not aware of the break-ins until a day later when officers saw maintenance crews installing new apartment doors.
Adams, a middler international relations major and president of the Student Government Association, said the doors in the apartment were weak and lacked steel reinforcement. She theorized that the intruder got in through a partially open window, and then was able to use a crowbar to break down the remaining doors.
“My landlord has been really great about it,” Adams said. “Everyone had a new, stronger door the next day.”
Adams’ roommate also lost jewelry, as well as an assortment of designer shoes and purses. Other stolen items included laptop computers, a Playstation 2, digital camera and flatscreen monitor.
Gindy Singh, a middler criminal justice major who had his computer and digital camera stolen in the break-in, said despite the intrusion, he doesn’t feel any less secure in his apartment.
“It was a good chance for them to do it, so if they were going to do it, it would be during Christmas,” Singh said. He said he is not concerned now that the opportunity has passed and the apartments are no longer vacant.
Adams, however, said the break-ins made her uneasy, especially since she considered St. Stephen Street a relatively safe area of campus.
“I’m kind of concerned, because I live on St. Stephen Street. It’s not like I live on Columbus [Avenue],” Adams said. “One of the reasons I moved over here was because I thought it would be the safer part of campus to live.”
For students trying to regain or replace stolen property, a lot depends on their insurance and the nature of the stolen items.
Jim Edwards, a sophomore electrical engineering major, lives on Mission Hill and was robbed in November. While his roommate has insurance, he does not, and has no way to recoup his losses. He said although he and his roommate have been more careful about locking doors since the break-in occurred, preparation is the more important lesson.
“People can get robbed even if they lock their doors. I would just recommend they get insurance,” he said.
Sometimes even insurance doesn’t help. Adams said her policy would only replace items if she could provide the receipts. Since all her stolen jewelry were gifts, she could not be reimbursed for any of it. She said police told her the best option would be to check local pawnshops.
However, Adams also counts her blessings.
“I’m just so glad I wasn’t there when it happened,” she said. –>