Tom McKiver/The Mirror
New semester, same old problems.
Students who live at the beach are all too familiar with the reports of break-ins and thefts that accompany the return from break. The empty beach houses vacated by home-bound students were the scenes of some of the most costly burglaries last semester, with multiple televisions and printers reported as stolen over the Thanksgiving holiday.
While students were not the victims of the most recent break-ins, the reports will come as a disappointment to those who hoped to leave last semester’s off-campus crime trend in the past.
Fairfield students were back on campus for only a matter of hours before reports surfaced about car break-ins and thefts in town. Six calls were placed to the police early Tuesday morning, according to the Fairfield Citizen Online.
Three callers reported smashed car windows on Wheeler Park Avenue and Adley Road, while $120 was taken from another unlocked car on Wheeler Road.
Godfrey Road and Harvester Road residents reported footprints in the snow circling the cars in the neighborhood, adding to the mystery of these recent crimes that have gone without suspects.
While the reports of crimes in town are concerning for some students, the Director of Public Safety Todd Pelazza says that the there has not been any increase in thefts or break-ins on campus. Public Safety does not patrol off-campus housing, but Pelazza says, “DPS is able and willing to meet with residents to increase their awareness of crime prevention and how to better protect themselves and their belongings.”
And some beach residents may want to take note of Pelazza’s offer. Besides the burglaries that occurred over Thanksgiving, break-ins with students present in the house have posed a more serious and alarming issue. A Sacred Heart student was in his beach house on Dec. 7 when two intruders tied him up and beat him, and the same night another burglary occurred in a nearby house while the female student occupants were upstairs.
The car break-ins reported last Tuesday occurred five miles from the Reef Road location of last semester’s most violent break-in involving the Sacred Heart student, and many hope to put even more distance between the student-occupied beach houses and any crimes in town.
Some students have already acknowledged improvements in the new year. Chelsea Whittemore ’12, a beach resident, said she is not aware of any burglaries that occurred over Christmas break. In order to ensure the safety of the students’ beach houses in the future, she believes the police should investigate all burglaries to the fullest, especially “in such a vulnerable area.”
The material and emotional tolls that these crimes have taken on the senior class’ beach residents do not seem to dissuade the hopeful students from other grades, however. Junior Lauren Conte has heard the frustrations of current beach residents and believes that the police should be more involved in the future, but she still hopes to be one of the few students who will be allowed to live off campus in the coming school year.
Eve Seiter ’14, likewise, is set on living at the beach during her senior year. Many students agree that the beach living option was one of Fairfield’s most enticing features during their college searches, and they are not willing to give up their dream because of the break-ins that are hopefully a thing of the past.
If you have any information regarding the recent criminal activity in the Fairfield Beach area, call the Fairfield Police Department at 203-254-4048. For any burglaries occurring on campus, call the Office of Public Safety at 203-254-4000 ext. 4090.
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