One of Daniel Lord's flatmates scared off burglars who
entered their Leith St flat earlier this year. Photo by
Jane Dawber.
Dunedin police are working on a plan to reduce the number
of burglaries in North Dunedin.
Between March 1 and June 30 this year, police recorded 58
burglaries in North Dunedin - 54 of them in streets mainly
populated by students.
Dunedin-Clutha police area commander Inspector Dave Campbell
said the number of burglaries in the student area was
significantly higher than in other parts of Dunedin.
The area had traditionally been seen by burglars as an easy
touch because students were known to have valuable items and
leave properties unlocked, and it had long had a high number
of burglaries.
It seemed efforts to educate students about the risks had
failed, and while putting automatic closers and locks on all
doors would be good, it was also problematic, and police were
looking into other ways of dealing with the problem.
Over the period, Leith St recorded the highest number of
burglaries, with 14, and Queen St, the second highest, with
11 burglaries.
In Leith St yesterday, residents said they were aware there
was an issue in the area - some because they knew someone who
had been burgled, others because of signs on the street
saying it was a target area for burglars - although some said
they still did not lock their doors regularly.
Medical student Jason Kingan (19) said he locked his room
every time he left because he did not want his stuff
"nicked", but his flatmates had no such qualms and the rest
of the house was usually unlocked.
Daniel Lord (19), a physical education student, said one of
his flatmates came out of his bedroom about 1.30 one morning
to find someone in the lounge and a second person on the
deck. Both men ran off when he came out.
"We used to be pretty casual about [locking the doors]. We're
trying to be a lot more careful now."
Further along the street, a resident said he and his
flatmates were scrupulous about locking doors, and had moved
all their valuable goods - including flat-screen televisions
and stereos - away from doors and windows after several
laptops and about $3000 worth of musical gear were stolen
from their neighbours' flat last term.
Others were not so worried.
"I don't know if they are ever locked. There are five boys
here and someone's always home, usually. We don't lock them
while someone's here," one man said.
When people were coming and going all the time, it was easier
if the door was unlocked, he said.
Another resident said her flat was "pretty casual" about
locking doors, while another said her flatmates locked their
doors all the time and their front door could not be opened,
which "was good" because there had been "a few dodgy people
about" this year.
Insp Campbell said police had noticed a trend towards
non-students and known criminals moving into the student area
in the past two or three years.
That was a concern because it was common for burglars to be
most active within a small area close to their home. Police
had just completed a burglary control strategy for the city
for the next year, but because of the ongoing problems, had
started work on two sub-strategies - one for addressing the
number of burglaries in North Dunedin, and another looking at
the amount of scrap-metal offending.
The burglaries
March 1-June 30:
• Selwyn St - 4
• George St - 1
• Castle St - 3
• Clyde St - 10
• Cumberland St - 1
• Dundas St - 5
• Forth St - 5
• Leith St - 14
• Queen St - 11
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