This is all that remained of a pilfered Boston bike; the BUPD has tips for protecting yourself against campus thefts. Photo by Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe

Rising thefts at BU during the last academic year—also a trend elsewhere as campuses repopulated nationally after COVID-19 lockdowns—have prompted the Boston University Police Department (BUPD) to warn staff and students about protecting their property.

Between September 1, 2021, and July 10, 2022, 328 larcenies were reported on campus, up about 77 percent from the 2020-2021 academic year, which saw 185 larcenies, BUPD statistics show. This year’s thefts are 58 percent more than the 208 larcenies in 2019-2020. The percentages overstate the surge, however.

“When looking back further, beyond the academic years that have been impacted by COVID-19, the current number does not appear to be much of a surge,” says Robert Molloy, BUPD deputy chief. The current year’s larcenies exceed those in each of the two years before the pandemic by no more than 7 percent, he says.

“Boston University is not the only school facing this trend. Everyone in the area is dealing with larcenies,” says Molloy. “The most common items that are reported stolen are bicycles and scooters, clothing, computers, and money,” taken by scammers. “The majority of larcenies reported are unattended items that are taken from public spaces and/or common areas.”

The BUPD offers these tips for protecting yourself from thefts and thieves:

Tips for Students on How to Protect Your Property

Rich Barlow is a senior writer at BU Today and Bostonia magazine. Perhaps the only native of Trenton, N.J., who will volunteer his birthplace without police interrogation, he graduated from Dartmouth College, spent 20 years as a small-town newspaper reporter, and is a former Boston Globe religion columnist, book reviewer, and occasional op-ed contributor. Profile

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