Among the many important things students will learn in Dunedin this year, Police want to add just one more: Don’t make a thief’s job easy.

Police on Sunday arrested a 20-year-old man, thanks to members of the public reporting suspicious behaviour in North Dunedin’s Cosy Dell area. Enquiries led to Police charging the man in relation to four burglaries in the area over a three-day period.

Detective Mark Durant has plenty of praise for the residents who alerted Police.

“Our message to students and wider community is don’t feel bad about calling us to report something or someone who looks out of the ordinary – you’re not going to get in trouble if you’re wrong, and it could prevent you or someone else from becoming the victim of crime.”

University of Otago Proctor Dave Scott says the burglaries are a timely reminder to the many students living in North Dunedin flats to be safety conscious and take some simple steps to keep their flats secure.

• Lock your windows and doors in the evenings and any other time no one is at the address.
• Pull curtains at night or when changing.
• Bring washing in from clothes lines in the evening.
• Utilise the Campus Watch walk-home service and the free Safety Patrol that operates Wednesday to Saturday 11pm – 3am.

Campus Watch operates year-round at any time of the day, and can be contacted on 0800 479 5000. There is also an extensive CCTV network in North Dunedin community to keep our community safe.

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