A total of 12 burglaries and thefts occurred at the Edgewood Park Apartments complex during the fall semester. Six of the incidents occurred during the month of November, according to the Rowan Public Safety crime log. Some of the items stolen from students were small, including wallets, phones, and cash, though reports of larger electronics, such as gaming systems, were also taken from several students, according to the crime log.
Many of the student concerns about the security of the apartments at Edgewood focus on the vulnerability of the locks on each apartment’s front door.
“[Almost] every time that I open the door and I walk through my apartment, I realize a couple of hours later that [the door] is just resting against the edge and it never actually closed,” said sophomore psychology major, Caitlin Wrege. “That’s not something that I would think about all the time.”
Wrege is not the only resident at Edgewood to report a faulty lock. Sophomore biochemistry major Daniel Trevino had his phone stolen in early November along with nearly $500 of gaming equipment belonging to his roommate.
“There’s a lot more hesitation with me going to bed at night,” Trevino said.
Trevino also mentioned that he used a tracking feature in his stolen phone to locate where it was taken. He said the GPS pointed to apartment buildings off-campus.
“The thing was, I actually took it to the cops the minute I woke up, because I woke up for an 8 a.m. [class] I tracked my phone, and I knew exactly where it was,” Trevino said. “I still know where it is. It’s in Crossings in one of the H buildings. I told [Rowan Security]. I gave them the exact location and everything and nothing’s happened.”
Trevino’s roommate, sophomore theater major Guy Rose, expressed frustration and said the two were tempted to go to the apartment themselves and try to reclaim their belongings.
“I’ve definitely thought about it, let’s put it that way,” Rose said. “We thought about it, [but] we didn’t act upon it.”
Reed Layton, the senior director of public safety for Rowan University, responded to the safety concerns of students. He said in the case of Trevino’s burglary, five arrests have been made and 70 percent of the stolen property has been recovered.
Layton also said student concerns about burglary and lock safety were founded.
“The locks on the outside doors had to be removed by order of the State Fire Marshal,” Layton said in an email interview.
“Student Life is working very hard on door access currently,” he continued. “We have had extra patrols over the last several weeks, and [those] will continue. Fixing some of the lock mechanisms would be great and the students would make sure they lock their doors when leaving.”
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