With the growing safety concerns over the security of our vehicles and personal belongings, San José State students find the likelihood of break-ins occuring intimidating in campus garages.
SJSU campus garages have earned a notorious reputation among students and faculty from incidents including break-ins, hit and runs and other criminal activities.
Auto burglaries and stolen goods at parking garages are not an uncommon occurrence on campus, as school law enforcement officers and city police officials can't stress enough the proactive measures students can all take so they don't become victims.
SJSU’s University Police Department Operations Bureau Commander Lieutenant Rafael Alvarez said in order to prevent such crimes students must ensure they take action before they leave their cars.
“As far as our campus garages, there’s a bad rep,” Alvarez said. “Break-ins sometimes (students), including myself, leave things laying out and about in cars and all we are doing is inviting temptation.”
Alvarez explained how break-ins are a preventable crime, as ensuring the view of valued goods in sight being gone can decrease the likelihood of a break-in significantly.
“Breaking into a car is a crime of opportunity. If we secure our personal belongings we aren't giving people the opportunity to break into our cars,” Alvarez said.
Richard Nguyen, a fourth-year SJSU finance student, got his car broken into in the South Parking Garage on campus during his first year.
Although the person who committed the crime was caught, Nguyen was left with paying the damages.
“It was some (houseless) dude. They caught him but I didn’t get reimbursed or anything,” Nguyen said.
For students visiting from other campuses, this can be a new experience for them.
Nir Weiss, a West Valley College student double majoring in physics and philosophy, often comes and visits friends on campus.
He says he tries to visit during the day and tries to take preventable measures to stop break-ins.
“I feel more comfortable parking midday around 12 p.m. I also try to hide all my valuables underneath my car seat,” Weiss said.
Like Weiss, many students know of the risks of parking on campus garages and try to take the same measures.
Detective for the San José Police Department, Douglas Potwora provides more insight as to more strategies students can take.
Potwora highlights the importance of taking advantage of your car alarm system.
“Anytime you have a security system on your car, try to advertise that it's there and it exists,” Potwora said.
Potwora suggests taking advantage of newer car models that can have motion and sound detection that alerts owners of a possible burglary to their vehicle.
For example, newer model cars like Teslas have sentry modes and smart sensors that can alert car owners and record motion outside the vehicle if detected, according to Tesla's website.
Potwora also shared his own proactive measures he takes and recommends to others.
SJPD auto theft unit recommends parking your car in a well lighted area, using motion detection technology and always locking your car keeping valuables hidden, according to SJPD auto theft prevention website.
“There are also preventable measures people can take like making sure you park in a lighted, secure facility and installing tough glass that exert effort to break making sure intruders give up easier,” Potwora said.
Despite the negative connotations and reputation that our campus garages may have, there are students who haven’t dealt with any incidents and generally feel secure.
Isabel Ayala, a third-year SJSU student, says she's never had to deal with an incident.
“I feel pretty comfortable as I have left sometimes at night time and I felt fine walking to my car,” Ayala said.
If a student finds themself in a break-in situation there are steps they can take to make sure they get reimbursed or recover their belongings.
“Immediately call us, we'll go out and take a report and collect evidence as well as try not to touch anything,” Alvarez said.
