Public Safety has begun the 2013 Lock Your Door campaign, aiming to educate residential students on the dangers of leaving an apartment or suite door open.

According to Luis Natal, Public Safety’s Crime Prevention Specialist, the campaign has been around for roughly four years. “We go around with the RA’s and any doors we find open or unlocked, we address the issue of locking the doors, explain the problems we’re having with the larcenies and so forth.”

Natal also encourages students to take part in Operation ID, meant to enable Public Safety to return items to their rightful owners, should they be lost or stolen.

“We engrave the license number and the state and then I put U of H. So if it ends up in a pawn shop, they call me up and say ‘hey, I have one of your items,’ and then we do the investigation.” According to Natal, the engraving is done on the hardware itself and will not damage the electronics.

Public Safety designed these two programs to protect students and their property and ask for cooperation so they can prevent small electronics like laptops, iPods and tablets from disappearing.

“We’d like the students to come on board with Public Safety and be the eyes and the ears,” said Natal. “This is their community, and you know, we’re committed to community, that’s our motto, and we really just want them to help us keep them safe.”