A reported 21 burglaries have occurred in the area surrounding Geneseo since January. These burglaries are specifically concentrated within the Meadows and Courtside Apartments, where many college students reside. Out of the 21 burglaries that have occurred this year, eight have transpired at the Courtside Apartments. Village of Geneseo Police Chief Eric Osganian stated in a phone interview that since January upward of $5,000 of merchandise has been stolen. A few of the expensive ticketed items include a Gucci bag and multiple flat screen TVs.
According to Osganian, the burglars have favored high monetary valuables. He added that the crimes occur both at night and during the day, mostly during breaks for students. The age-range of the victims is between 18 to 25 years of age. Due to the fact that eight of the burglaries occurred at Courtside, public opinion infers that the burglar may be acting independently.
Osganian considers the thefts “unusual” because the majority of them have occurred in apartments that had locked windows, and no signs of any outward damage has been shown. While both apartment complexes have onsite managers present, more theft has occurred at the Courtside Apartments than at the Meadows Apartments.
In order to prevent such burglaries from occurring in the future, Osganian suggests that students become more diligent by locking their doors and windows, reporting stolen items within the first 48 hours and immediately alerting the onsite manager of the crime.
Communication major senior Meryl Honig lived in a Courtside apartment last year and fell victim to one of the thefts during December break. Honig said that the burglar stole five flat screen TVs from her apartment.
Honig said that she and her roommates were not compensated for their items. She added that Courtside apartments have taken very limited precautionary measures to prevent future burglaries from occurring.
“Courtside has reinforced the locks. There’s a little metal plate around the dead-bolt, so it looks more sturdy than it did before, which I think is good,” she said. “I would have been even happier if I had seen cameras installed anywhere or anything majorly different.”
According to Honig, the lack of safety precautions may be related to the price that Courtside charges for its apartments.
“I feel like they charge an amount for rent—not that you should assume they should be broken into—but that you understand that there aren’t as many safety precautions as there are in other places,” she said.
Honig said that she knows multiple students who have also had items stolen. She urged students to lock their doors in order to deter burglaries.
“While you’re home during the year [and] while you’re living here, I would just say lock your house: lock your front door, lock your bedroom door—that’s all you can do,” she said. “As far as it goes with December break or October break, there’s really not much you can do besides locking your doors.”
Honig said that she still feels safe living in Geneseo despite the incident,
“There’s so much violence and scarier things that happen on other campuses,” she said. “If I have to get a TV stolen, I have to get a TV stolen. We’re safe in the long run.”