Is theft a major issue in dorms?

[Rodimus Prime]

I lived in dorms all four years and never had anything stolen. None of my roommates or friends had anything stolen either.

As others have said, just be smart about it. Don't leave your door unlocked, don't leave your stuff unattended in the library, etc...

I will say the 3 years I lived in the dorms nothing got stolen from me. The the 1 year I lived in a house off campus it got broken into. We lost two $20 dvd players, 1 busted TV that we were going to haul to the garbage any how and my roommates small DVD collection.

Oddly enough they did not touch either one of our printers, the 40 bucks cash I had on my bookself that they walked past after they broke in threw my bed room, my working TV, N64 or my larger DVD collection on the other side of the room.

 

[SDub90]

Actually those Kensington cable locks are worse than useless. You can open them with a toilet paper tube.

Not to mention a good yank is usually all it takes to break the lock slot on most laptops. It's a false sense of security.

Having it is better than not having it. I remember the older ones were easier to open, but I *think* that was fixed or made slightly harder. I definitely wouldn't say you can leave your door open if you have it. It's less likely a theif would go for it when it's locked unless that's what they came for.

 

[OutThere]

Also, generally, dorm theft is a crime of opportunity—an unlocked door and a laptop sitting on the desk right inside, or an iPod left on a table in the common area while someone goes to the bathroom. If you're worried about your roommate not being cautious enough, slipping your laptop in a desk drawer under some notebooks, or in your sock drawer under your underwear may be more security than leaving it visible but locked.

A dorm room can be substantially more secure than a shared house. Some friends of mine lived in an off-campus house with eight people, some of whom were not particularly close friends. One of the girls in the house brought a guy home one night, who, before leaving at like 5am, proceeded to sneak through the house and steal phones and iPods off peoples' nightstands (while they were asleep!) and some other things that had been left in common areas. Sometimes you just get ****ed.

 

[184550]

this ^

Never had anything or knew of anyone who had any issues like this in the dorm. One friend had an ipod stolen from his house senior year, but that was during a party with 100+ people in the house. Just avoid situations like that and you will be fine.

All of the new dorms on my campus have doors that automatically lock.. they are like in hotels, you have to use your card to open them.

During senior year we had a party like that, the kind where people just keep showing up. However, our dorm was configured with four single bedrooms with a shared kitchen and living room. I just locked my room. Simple as that.

 

[OutThere]

During senior year we had a party like that, the kind where people just keep showing up. However, our dorm was configured with four single bedrooms with a shared kitchen and living room. I just locked my room. Simple as that.

Yeah in my off campus house we often had parties where word of mouth would take off and the house would just be full of people I'd never met, we'd just make sure to have a bedroom we'd keep closed and locked where we could stash valuables. At least at a party like that nobody can steal the iPod that's running the music (at least without anyone noticing!). It's always a bit disconcerting to have someone you don't know elbow you out of the way for your own keg, though, haha.

 

[The ArchAngel]

Also, generally, dorm theft is a crime of opportunity—an unlocked door and a laptop sitting on the desk right inside, or an iPod left on a table in the common area while someone goes to the bathroom.

This sums it up. I went to a big school for undergrad, and I never had anything stolen from me, not by luck, but by not leaving **** you care about or that costs more than $25 unattended. Every time I'd read something in the crime section of the student paper about someone having a laptop/phone/wallet stolen, it was almost always left out in the library while they took a trip to the bathroom, put in an unlocked locker in one of the athletic facilities, or was in an unlocked dorm room.

Lock your **** up, you'll be fine.

 

[Young Spade]

If you dont' do anything stupid, chances are, your stuff will be safe.

If you take your laptop with you at all times, you shouldn't have any problems.

If you don't leave your room unlocked, you won't have any problems.

If you don't flaunt your stuff like it's worth a ton of money, you shouldn't have any problems.

Chances are, you'll be fine.

Nobody is completely safe though so be aware of your surroundings, don't go walking around at night with it on you (I was really bad about that walking back from a 24hr cafe at 2am constantly), and don't show the world what you have.

 

[Tiggs]

Think my area had the biggest issue with bike thefts. Never heard of anyone losing a computer but knew several who lost their bikes.