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MU Home » Student Affairs » Public Safety

Property Crime Deterrence

630-7577 (Emergency) 630-7098 (Welcome Center)

Like many other colleges and universities, theft of personal property is by far the most common type of criminal incident reported on our campus. The Department of Public Safety is committed to deterring these incidents, investigating those that occur, and whenever possible prosecuting anyone who engages in this criminal behavior.

There are a number of easy, effective steps you can take to "Help Us Help You":

• If you see anyone or anything that makes you suspicious, call Public Safety at 630-7577 or 630-7098 without delay.
• Close and lock your residence hall room, office, and vehicle every time you leave it, even if you only plan to be away for a few minutes. It takes only takes a few seconds for a thief to steal your valuables.
• Close and lock your residence hall room door when you are asleep or in the bathroom.
• Never prop an exterior residence hall door or gate open.
• Don't open residence hall room or lobby doors for people you don't know. Everyone who is authorized to enter a particular residence hall should already have key and / or card access.
• Report any lost residence hall room key to your Residential Coordinator and have room locks changed without delay!
• Don't "hide" a key outside your residence hall room.
• NEVER leave laptop computers, cell phones, PDAs, MP3 Players, purses, backpacks, etc. unattended - even for a few seconds - outdoors or inside academic, study, recreation or food service facilities.
• Avoid leaving your valuables in plain sight - whether in your room, office or vehicle! Plainly visible items like GPS units, MP3 players, and audio components - especially in vehicles - draw the attention of would-be thieves.
• Participate in Operation ID, which is coordinated by Crime Prevention Officer Annette Thompson. CPO Thompson will come to your room and record serial numbers and other vital information related to valuables. If you wish, she also will use an engraver to apply a unique number (usually your driver's license number) to your non-serial numbered items. This information will be recorded and maintained in a secure place. Should your property be stolen anywhere, that information may be entered into the national law enforcement database to assist in positive identification and recovery. This free service is available to everyone on campus. You may contact CPO Thompson at 630-7487 to schedule this service.
• You can share information about suspicious activity anonymously by calling MU Crime-Stoppers at 630-7287 or by clicking on the Silent Witness link on the Public Safety Web Page.