Marquis Kelley’s semester started with his Honda Accord being ripped off from the Dining Commons parking lot.

“I was looking for my car at the parking lot. I looked for five minutes and figured it was either towed or stolen,” Kelley said.

Kelley’s 1992 Honda Accord was found near Redding two weeks later with the stereo system and CDs missing.

Kelley’s car was one of three vehicles stolen last month, according to John Hamrick, Police Public Information Officer. The theft of Kelley’s car reflects the larger problem of auto theft and burglary rates on the Sacramento State campus and in the Sacramento region.

“In the year 2002, the CSUS campus had 35 vehicles stolen, and three were stolen in the month of January 2003,” Hamrick said. “The projected estimate for auto burglary for the year 2003 may be about the same as the previous year.”

Sacramento is ranked fifth in the nation for auto thefts, said Manuel Casillas, a State Farm Insurance Agent.

Statistics from the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department reveals 7,000 vehicles are stolen each year in Sacramento.

Statistics from State Farm Insurance showed the top 10 most stolen cars in Sacramento region are: Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Toyota pickup, Acura Integra, Toyota Corolla, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Chevrolet full-size pickup, Toyota Van and Ford Mustang.

“There are predators out there for the top 10 cars most frequently stolen, and it is important to go through safety precautions,” said Cynthia Cockrill, Director of Housing and Residential Life.

There are only 18 police officers on the campus force, who patrol in groups of two to four with one police officer per car, Hamrick said.

Sac State has 10 parking lots, two parking structures and the overflow parking lots.The prevention of auto burglary and theft is a major concern of Sac State, Hamrick said.

“Campus police rely on the campus community to give us information, so we know when a crime is taking place, and we can stop it from happening,” Hamrick said.

Theft seems to be a common occurrence for students.

“I want more police security for my automobile.” said Brian Carmany. “My 2000 Honda Civic got broken into twice.”

Dylan Mora also experienced problems parking on campus when someone stole his stereo equipment.Someone broke into Mora’s car and stole his CDs and CD player, he said.

Dorm residents are instructed on ways to prevent auto thefts during their beginning of the year orientation, said Cockrill.”Normally it is up to the discretion of the resident adviser and the topic of their programs to warn against auto burglary and theft,” Cockrill said.

Student Ryan Geronimo would have liked to have been notified of the high occurrence of theft earlier.

“From what I hear, no one was ever told about the problems with parking until theft and burglary started occurring, and even then there was no official response, not even from the resident advisers,” said Geronimo, whose 1991 Pathfinder SUV was stolen in 2001

Campus security advises the best way to protect vehicles from being broken into is to park the car in a lighted area and make sure no valuables are left in plain view.

“These numbers are a drop in the pan. They would not deter me from parking on campus,” said John Dalton who drives a Mercury Grand Marquis. “As far as auto thefts go I’m not worried at all about parking on campus. I’m more afraid about the dude who hands out parking permits than someone stealing my car.”

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