Published: Monday, April 12, 2010 in The Whitworthian.

When junior Megan Fraser walked out to discover that her car had been broken into one morning last October, business as usual quickly devolved into the start of a months-long process of dealing with the aftermath of theft.

Fraser’s Nissan Maxima had been locked, but thieves smashed the rear window and gained access to her purse, camera, iPod and other valuables.

“I had to drive back to Montana to get a new license,” Fraser said.

Fraser lives off-campus about one-half mile from Whitworth. Crime in the area is understandably a concern for students who opt out of dorm living.

“Everyone knows someone who has gotten something stolen,” senior Nic Vargus said.
Vargus lost roughly $500 worth of stereo equipment from his car in December.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Department keeps records of all crimes in the area, and displays them on an interactive map linked from their Web site. Since December 2009 up until this printing, police have responded to over 70 crimes within a half-mile of Whitworth’s campus.

Doug Silver, systems coordinator for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department, said that one problem spot in particular is the area around the intersection of Highway 395 and Highway 2, known as the ‘Y.’ North of the ‘Y’ and between the two highways, vehicle prowling and burglary are relatively common.

However, the area around Whitworth remains one of the safer neighborhoods in Spokane, Silver said. For example, police have responded to 191 crimes in the half-mile area around the Monroe Street and Sprague Avenue intersection in downtown Spokane since December of last year.

Students feel that the area around Whitworth is relatively safe.

“I’ve always felt it was really safe,” Fraser said. “After [the theft] we just took more precautions.”

Vargus has adopted a pragmatic view since his experience.

“I feel like it’s a small chance that it could happen, but it does happen,” he said.

Silver said that students should take care not to leave things visible inside their cars at night.

If something is stolen out of a vehicle, recovery is often problematic. Burglars don’t want to keep stolen merchandise, Silver said.

What students can do is report crimes and suspicious persons as soon as they are able. The sheriff’s department engages in “intelligence led policing,” Silver said, a method of crime prevention that seeks to identify areas where crime is occurring regularly and establish a presence there.

“We’ll station undercover officers and place cameras in those areas,” Silver said.

If students observe suspicious behavior, they should report it immediately.

In the meantime, taking some advice from Vargus can’t hurt:

“Always lock your doors,” he said.