Members of the University community are vulnerable to the same crime problems encountered by any resident of any metropolitan area. Theft of personal property is a recurrent problem on the Michigan campus, as it is on most campuses around the country. Even with a security staff as good as ours, it is very difficult to insure that everyone walking around campus residential areas has a right to be there. Students in campus housing are sometimes easy targets for someone roaming around and looking for open or unlocked doors and windows.

This is not an abstract or hypothetical problem. As the saying goes, it can happen to you. University Housing and the Department of Public Safety want to alert you to some ways by which you can help make your residence hall or the Family Housing community a safer and more secure place to live. You can take certain steps outlined here to help protect your property and that of others, and also increase the likelihood of recovery in the event something is stolen. In a community living situation, security and safety is a communal issue - we all need to be looking out for the other, because it ends up being the best protection for yourself.

Steps You Can Take
1. Personal Property Inventory
A Personal Property Inventory sheet is available from this web site as an Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF file. You can download and print it here, if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you don't, you can download it for free from Adobe.

The Personal Property Inventory sheet is a way in which you can record your insurance coverage, credit cards, and valuable personal items so that if anything is lost, stolen, or destroyed while on campus, you will have readily available information for the police and filing an insurance claim. We strongly urge you to take a few minutes before you move in to complete the card, and, once you're on campus, to keep it up-to-date. Keep a copy for yourself and leave another copy with your parents, guardian, other family member or a neighbor - or at some other location - for safekeeping. Keep the card updated to reflect new purchases made or credit cards received once you're on campus. The inventory will also help establish proof of ownership in the event something of yours is stolen and recovered by the police.

2. Secure your room or apartment door whenever you are not at home.
This is probably the single most important aspect of housing security. There is no such thing as "I don't need to worry; I'll only be gone a minute." Unfortunately, there are some residents who can testify that it was not the case for them. Their rooms or residences were entered and property was stolen when they were out for just a couple of minutes. Keep small valuable items in locations not easily visible, and not accessible by reaching inside the door. If you live on a ground floor or accessible first floor room or apartment, make sure your windows are locked when you are not at home.

• Do not loan out your room access cards or apartment keys. It is a violation of your contract and University policy to duplicate any University provided key.
• Secure your room or apartment door whenever you are sleeping. All room doors have chain locks and peepholes to insure that the only people who enter your room do so because you want them to. Use them!
• In residence halls, lock your room door when you leave for a fire alarm or fire drill.

3. Don't prop open residence hall outside entrance doors
All residence hall outside doors are locked 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Only residents and their invited guests should be in any hall, unless otherwise authorized by University Housing (for meals, classes, etc.). Sometimes residents prop open an entrance door for their personal convenience so that they do not have to escort a friend coming to visit them. The problem with that is a decision made by an individual for his or her convenience ends up affecting the level of safety and security for all residents in the building. Each hall has a campus phone at one or more entrance locations; ask anyone visiting you to call your room from one of those phones so that you can let them into the building.

4. Question strangers on your residence hall floors, lounges, or in your Family Housing area
Do not hesitate to ask strangers who they are visiting, or if you can help them find something. If the individual is not visiting a resident or there for some other appropriate purpose, they should be asked to leave or Security should be contacted to escort the person off the premises. Alert resident or other Housing staff to the presence of suspicious individuals. No salespeople are permitted to go door-to-door in any campus housing. If you are approached while in your residence by a solicitor, please notify Security and/or your hall or Family Housing front office during open hours of their presence. Representatives of non-profit agencies and candidates for political office have to apply for prior written approval before going door-to-door and will carry with them a signed authorization letter.

If you have any doubts as to the legitimacy of individuals you see in campus housing, call the Department of Public Safety at (76)3-1131 and alert them to a potential intruder. Be prepared to describe the person as specifically as possible and where you last saw him/her.

5. Operation Identification
You can check out an engraver/etcher from your hall front office or the Family Housing Community Center. This etcher can be used to engrave an ID number (e.g. your driver's license number) or other identifying marks on personal property such as televisions, stereos, speakers, etc. Equipment or property identified in this way gives police and insurance companies concrete physical evidence of ownership and it can also deter criminal activity since this kind of identification makes it more difficult to fence stolen property. It sends a message to a thief that you are concerned about protecting your belongings.

6. Limit valuables in your room or apartment
Keep expensive belongings to a minimum. As much as possible, leave expensive jewelry, watches, etc. at your permanent home or other place off-campus. If you purchase season tickets for U-M football, basketball or hockey, do not leave the tickets in plain view in your room or apartment. You will not be able to get a refund if the tickets are lost or stolen. Take small valuable items home with you over vacation periods, or consider renting a safe deposit box at one of the local banks.

Limit the amount of cash you have in your wallet or purse at any one time, unless you have a specific need for the money in the near future.

7. Bicycle security
One of the most common crimes on campus is bicycle theft. All types of bikes are stolen from all over campus. Although thieves favor expensive bikes, never assume that "no one would want to steal my bike." Make sure your bike is secured with a strong lock (preferable the U-lock kind) and left at any University or city bicycle parking site. Don't leave your bike unattended and unlocked for even a short period. Make sure your bike is locked to the many bicycle loops all over campus, and not to trees, parking meters, or any unauthorized places. University security may confiscate bikes that are locked to specifically prohibited locations. Also, it is absolutely to your benefit to register your bicycle with the City of Ann Arbor. The registration fee is $2.50 and can be purchased at the City Clerk's Office at City Hall, 100 N. Fifth Avenue. This is the only way in which you can be sure that police can trace a stolen bicycle, and increases the chances of it being returned to you.

8. Report all thefts or losses immediately
If you believe or know something of yours was stolen, report the loss as soon as you are aware of it by contacting the Department of Public Safety at (76)3-1131, which can be reached 24 hours a day.

9. Insure your personal belongings
For residence hall residents, we recommend that you check in advance with your parents or guardian whether your possessions are covered by their insurance while you are on campus and away from your permanent home. Some homeowners' insurance policies have riders that allow for personal possessions away from the insured domicile to be covered and others do not. If you are not already insured, we strong encourage it for the period you are living in a residence hall, Family Housing apartment, or off-campus housing in Ann Arbor. There are many insurance agencies in Ann Arbor that offer relatively low-cost renter's insurance as well. University Housing and the University assume no liability for loss or theft of personal property.

Don't wait until you experience a loss of your personal property. It's discouraging to see students lose valuable property or have personal possessions stolen because appropriate precautions were not taken. Please do what you can in preventing thefts in your residence or on campus, and help make your place of residence a more pleasant and safe environment in which to live.

Property Inventory Cards are also available at Community Centers, Family Housing Community Center, and Department of Public Safety offices.