With breaks like this past Labor Day break, local police departments such as the Charleston Police Department and the University Police Department aim to keep students’ property as safe as possible while they are away.

Lieutenant Brad Oyer of the Charleston Police Department said there are various different types of property theft that occur in Charleston as well as on campus.

“We ask that everyone please lock their houses and vehicles,” he said. “Every community has property thefts and Charleston is no exception.”

Oyer said people break into vehicles usually not to steal the vehicle itself, but to steal the property inside of it.

“Strangely enough, we find that more and more women leave their purses inside their cars and leave it unlocked,” he said.

Another aspect of property theft that Eastern directly might not deal with but may affect the surrounding communities is the opening of hunting season.

“Many hunters in east-central Illinois leave firearms in their vehicles during hunting season and people break in and steal those,” he said.

Hosting parties can be another open invitation to property thieves, Oyer said.

“If you have a whole house full of people and you don’t necessarily know who they are, they could be checking it out to see what they want to come back and steal,” he said.

Charleston Police Department deals with the most property theft right after long weekends or breaks like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“We take property theft very seriously, especially when students are gone,” Oyer said. “Lock your things up, or better yet, take your most valuable possessions home with you.”

Items of importance, including laptops, game systems and games, are among some of the things Charleston residents report stolen most frequently, Oyer said.

“We had a lot of burglaries where people come in and steal nothing but a big stack of Xbox 360 games,” he said. “These can easily be taken to a pawn shop and pawned for a few bucks apiece.”

Oyer said change jars are another possession he has repeatedly seen stolen.

“Burglars know that in student housing, if students are going to be gone for an extended period of time, they can do a burglary that may not even be noticed for a week or two,” he said.

Oyer said property theft has remained relatively consistent over the years in Charleston, but breaks from classes are when reports of burglaries are at a peak.

“Students will roll back into town and the residential burglary reports will start rolling in as well,” he said. “By all means, don’t make it easy for the burglars.”

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].