Students reported that only two large-dorm burglaries occurred over winter break to police, a decrease in crime over past years.
While the reports are officially classified as burglaries, the incidents seem more like thefts, Boston University Police Department Sgt. Jack St. Hilaire said.
A robbery is defined as having something taken off of a person’s body, a theft is the non-violent taking of property, and burglary is defined as entering a building with the intention of committing a crime.
‘We had two reports and it’s questionable whether they were really burglaries because they weren’t forced entries,’ St. Hilaire said. ‘It sounds like roommates taking things from each other.’
On Jan. 10, a student reported objects, such as posters and clothes, missing from her Danielsen Hall residence. Another student reported on Jan. 12 that an X-Box and two X-Box controllers were stolen over break at the Towers.
‘What we’re concerned with during the break period is burglaries,’ St. Hilaire said. ‘The same people who prey on the students know that the students are gone, so they look for the areas to break into.’
In addition, a tarantula was reported stolen from a lab at the College of Engineering Jan. 6. St. Hilaire said many people have access to the lab, so anyone could have taken the arachnid.
Overall, winter break crime decreased from last year, when one burglary and six thefts were reported, St. Hilaire said.
‘We had a relatively safe and quiet break,’ he said. ‘In my time, this has probably been the most quiet.’
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