By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Student move-in and move-out times of the year are also known to Bowling Green Police Division as peak theft times.
People looking for crimes of convenience often prey on people dealing with the chaos of moving Bowling Green State University students into or out of their rental housing, according to BGPD Deputy Chief Adam Skaff.
“We want people to know this is a safe community. However, don’t take chances,” Skaff said.
Skaff advised that people not make it easy for thefts to occur. Often these thefts take place during daylight, so locking cars may be enough of a deterrent.
Earlier this month, police took a report from a woman helping her daughter move into her new apartment. The woman said she left her vehicle unlocked when she went inside the apartment “for a second.”
Her purse, sitting on the center console of the vehicle, was gone when she returned to the car. Inside were her credit and debit cards, her cell phone, driver’s license, auto and health insurance cards.
A few days later, police received a call from a woman whose purse was stolen from the backseat of her unlocked car. Inside the purse were her vehicle keys, apartment key, driver’s license, credit and debit cards, Social Security card, and $145 in cash.
“We never recommend leaving vehicles unlocked,” Skaff said. And don’t leave valuables in a place visible from outside the car.
“That’s a double whammy,” he said. “Take the purse with you.”
“These are crimes of opportunity. Some people’s full-time job is to steal. Why entice somebody? Don’t give them the opportunity to succeed in their ventures,” Skaff said.
BGPD expects many more theft reports in the next couple weeks as students move into Bowling Green. So police are asking people to take common sense steps to prevent thefts.
Skaff also stressed the importance of people reporting thefts, or calling police immediately if they see someone checking for unlocked vehicle doors in a parking lot or along a street.
In cases where police arrest a suspect with stolen items, it’s not unusual for police to confiscate items from multiple thefts. Police can’t return items if they don’t know who they were stolen from, Skaff said.
“Anytime anyone has something stolen, they should report it,” he said. “If you don’t report it, we don’t know there is a problem.”
