<p>I am new on this site. I actually live 10 minutes away from UCLA and 30 minutes away from University of Southern California… IF your child is attending college, just beware of the alarming rate of electronic robberies. Thieves are assaulting “rich” college students waking down the street, (especially late at night) and snatching their IPHONES; IPADS; Dre-beats earphones; ATM cards and more. Tell your College student to be aware of their surroundings! And use a security escort at night.</p>
<p>This type of robbery is by no means specific to college students.</p>
<p>However, college students who grew up in low crime areas may not be careful enough if they attend college in a higher crime area than they grew up in. This not only includes robbery, but other kinds of theft due to carelessly leaving stuff unattended or leaving doors and windows unlocked.</p>
<p>But what may be the largest safety and security risk at many residential colleges is specific to such colleges. Consider environments with alcohol and mostly drunk people (parties), with attendant risks of fights, unwanted sex, etc., particularly if the victim is also drunk and less able to avoid or escape, or may not be able to give a clear description of the suspect or what happened when telling the police about it.</p>
<p>Also, college students should find out beforehand whether the campus safety and security department is real police or not.</p>
<p>Welcome, collegemom40!
Do you have a source that is indicating this is now (or recently) on the rise? Could you please cite it, as I can’t find it and have friends and relatives living in LA. </p>
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<p>It is probably less trouble to avoid having your electronic devices visible at night. And walk with others whenever possible. People who steal when a readily available opportunity presents itself go for the easiest opportunities – and those involve a person alone with a visible electronic device (or a situation where a person has left an electronic device unattended – like when someone uses an electronic device to save a seat in a dining facility or library).</p>
<p>IME these incidents can almost always be avoided by following the basic safety tips that you should follow anywhere, such as not walking home alone at night, especially not when you’re drunk, and not flashing your electronics. </p>
<p>If you can do basic things like that, it avoids you being the lowest hanging fruit, and then they tend to opt for someone else to rob. </p>
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<p>You might want to avoid having your possessions be the most attractive fruit, too. For example, if you’re going to use a bicycle at college, get a cheap one. Thieves will be more likely to take the trouble to steal someone else’s higher quality bike, rather than yours (assuming that both are secured with locks that are equally difficult to break).</p>
<p>Yes, I do HLmom. Just Google THE DAILY BRUIN. Then go to FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14th and read the HEADLINES.: “STUDENT ASSUALTED” . I hopre that helps. </p>
<p>Ok, read that there was a robbery, but NOT that there is a particular INCREASE in robberies. College students who walk alone, with expensive phones and wallets, especially at 2am have always been tempting targets. LA is a big city and does have crime. Being aware of surroundings, especially when alone is always very important. </p>
<p>S lived near USC for 4 years and D has lived there now for 5. Neither has ever been a robbery victim and they DO take basic safety precautions, important in many environments. For that matter, there are many parts of Honolulu I would not walk alone at 2am and would not recommend anyone else to do either. Big and small towns DO have crime, sadly. </p>
<p>News of these types of robberies is not particularly new anyway. Ever since people (not necessarily college students) have been carrying expensive phones and paying more attention to them than their surroundings (i.e. making themselves easy targets for criminals), these types of robberies have been happening, with attendant news stories.</p>
<p>We are in a different state, and there has been an actual uptick in robberies on and around our state flagship campus this year. They have increased security, lighting, etc. to try to combat it. A lot of phone and laptop/tablet related thefts. Not on campus, but a local politician was recently beaten up in a mall coffee shop when he tried to stop a group of teens who snatched his smart phone off the table where he was drinking coffee. It seems like the crimes are becoming more common and more brazen in our area.</p>
<p>I keep stressing to my kids not to ‘advertise’ their electronics while out. One family in Illinois, the family of Megan Boken, are trying to get apple to put kill switches on all their devices so if they are stolen the victim can render them useless. They basically lock up and don’t operate. It is their belief, and I tend to agree, that if these stolen items can not be resold, people with these electronics will not be so targeted by thieves. This is after they lost their daughter who was murdered solely for her iPhone cell phone in broad daylight. The thief was hoping to resell it. Luckily he was caught, sentenced to life plus ten years. Sadly, she died at the young age of 23. This was just a short distance from St. Louis University where Megan played volleyball and was in town for an alumni event. Thieves know that college students have computers, phones, tablets etc. so they go where they believe the easy targets are. Extremely sad. </p>
<p>Yes, violence against theft victims is very upsetting and I have heard assorted reports about it here and there but have not particularly read articles that it is actually on the increase in the US, campuses, or specific areas. It is always good to be aware of surroundings and do what one can to avoid being targeted. Being impaired in any way (including overtired, intoxicated, listening to music, alone, in the dark, etc) makes one less aware of what is going around and who might be near and potentially stalking. </p>
<p>Theft is often a crime of opportunity. Vigilance is always a good thing. Crime sadly can and does happen everywhere. Lessening one’s chances is always a good idea. </p>
<p>It happens, kids should be savvy. </p>