<p>How safe is your stuff, clothing, etc. in your dorm room. Do you need to sit on top of your laundry to avoid theft? Laptop computers I would suspect are one of the most sought after items. What advise does anyone have here, or does one not really have to worry.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to the [crime</a> statistics](<a href=“University Public Safety | Institutional Planning and Operations”>University Public Safety | Institutional Planning and Operations) for RUPD. There used to be a more detailed pdf which listed theft by building but I can’t seem to find it at the moment. In any case, I wouldn’t say that theft was a big problem though my experiences are primarily based on the Busch campus. I’ve left my laptop out for a few minutes and asked someone to watch it for me and my books out for an hour while getting something to eat at the dining hall and I’ve never had anything stolen. While I wouldn’t recommend doing that just to be safe, it’s unlikely that something will happen.</p>
<p>I’d be careful of walking around Rockoff at night. Every few weeks I see a crime report about someone getting robbed there even if they’re not walking by themselves, not surprising since it’s next to a ghetto. This happens with the police parked outside the building most nights. Every other place seems really safe though.</p>
<p>Most of the theft I’ve seen involves roommates that already had a tense relationship to begin with. There was also a rumor of an RA on Livingston a few years back who went into rooms with her boyfriend and stole a lot of her floors’ stuff. This was later confirmed by my RA on Liv, but these situations are really oddities rather than the norm.</p>
<p>Dorm theft on Livingston –> [YouTube</a> - Rutgers Class President Caught Robbing Dorms with Boyfriend](<a href=“Rutgers Class President Caught Robbing Dorms with Boyfriend - YouTube”>Rutgers Class President Caught Robbing Dorms with Boyfriend - YouTube)</p>
<p>No need to worry. Just make sure you and your roommate are in agreement with locking the door every time the room is left empty when neither of you guys are in it. Leaving your door unlocked even for 2 minutes to go to bathroom or see a friend down the hall can result in theft.</p>
<p>And I agree with Daedallia about the Rockoff thing. Or just about ANYWHERE after 11pm, especially on or outside College Avenue, George Street, and Easton Avenue. I would be cautious walking around. That’s where the most theft occurs, when some random dude comes from behind you on George Street @ 12am and steal something as stupid as your Rutgers sweatshirt.</p>
<p>Where is Rockoff?</p>
<p>Rockoff is across from the C-Town supermarket on George Street. I’d say it is half way between Douglass Campus and College Avenue campus. It is a twelve-story building with apartments reserved for upperclassmen who are at least 21 of age.</p>
<p>The problem why crimes occur here is because Rockoff hall is technically not on-campus. Buses are accessible and the area can be a little busy at times, but you are being mixed in with outsiders. It isn’t like College Avenue where you are mostly walking amongst student and faculty.</p>
<p>I went to Rutgers 25 years ago. Once, someone stole our friends stereo equipment out of his room when he left it there during winter break. Another time, someone stole (only) my roommate’s underwear out of the laundry (we lived in Richardson). Good times.</p>
<p>Oh - I know where Rockoff is.</p>
<p>I walked through the downtown area during the day and it seemed fine, but from what you are saying MushaboomBlue it should be avoided late at night.</p>
<p>Is it safe to walk around the College Ave Campus at night or should you travel in groups? I assume if there are parties going on, it’s okay.</p>
<p>like everyone else said, you should definitely avoid walking around, even if it’s with a small group, at night. </p>
<p>but concerning dorms, that depends…i know my friend and all of her neighbors practically never locked their doors, or even closed them all of the way actually. she lived on a girls floor so i guess they all felt comfortable with each other and trusted that nobody would do anything bad, but still, i really wouldn’t recommend that! in my dorm, we always kept the door locked, and had laptop locks (which i would recommend too just because that’d be awful having a $500-1000 item stolen haha). in the beginning of the year there were actually incidents where some random guy was coming into the dorm and would let himself into rooms that were open and unoccupied and take things. obviously he got in trouble when he got found out but it just showed that even though there’s “security” you still never know who is walking around the hallways and what their intentions are. and lastly, about laundry, i don’t think you have to worry about that. i’d always forget about my laundry and would come back hours later to find that someone had taken it out and slopped it all over the tables down there, but nothing would be ever be gone.</p>