An unfortunate trend continued this holiday season with police in Kingston, Ont., reporting a number of break-ins at homes left vacant in the university district over the holidays. According to Kingston police media officer Anthony Colangeli, the timing isn’t a coincidence
“Individuals do target the university district knowing that students often go home for the holidays and leave their homes unoccupied.”
While police investigate the break-ins, they do have some suggestions for students, or anyone who is planning to leave their home for a period of time.
Get breaking National news
“First and foremost, locking your doors and windows, and making sure that those locks work,” Colangeli said, before adding “don’t leave items in plain view, where that means putting your items away or closing your blinds.”
Many students, including Aiden Hennigar, are doing what they can to make sure they aren’t targeted. “In my house, I keep a smart lock on my door which locks my door every five minutes”
The number of reported incidents is down this year compared to previous years, although numbers to date may not be telling the whole story, Colangeli says.
“It could be that all of our students haven’t returned yet and it could simply be that people aren’t reporting these.”
Police are encouraging citizens to report all suspected break-ins, regardless of whether anything was stolen. They say this information will help them better evaluate the severity of the crime and possibly help link break-ins.
Comments