After a gathering of students in an off campus apartment resulted in a missing game console, the property owner called the police to report it missing. Within forty-eight hours, the police located the stolen console, and reported that they had found the console. When I asked my upstairs neighbors who stole their console, they said, “The police haven’t told us yet, we thought it was one of you.” Well, it wasn’t one of us, and in the end they got the console back.

Steven Temperino, the chief of police at Plymouth State University, was available to comment on the theft. He said, “Only one fourth of the crimes committed are reported, making the low crime rate statistic in Plymouth most likely inaccurate.” When I asked why students would be hesitant to go to the police, he said, “Kids are nervous when it comes to talking to police, which it can be nerve racking sometimes.”

I recommend ,though, that if you do have something stolen, to report it to the police so they can try to locate your stolen property, and gain data on crimes. Bike theft around campus can be a problem, and every year the police find bicycles “abandoned” around the town. They suspect that these abandoned bikes are stolen and never reported by owners.

I talked to a friend, who wished to remain anonymous, who had his bike stolen, and asked him if he reported it. He did not. He said, “The bike was old and I didn’t feel filing a police report would help find the bike and I didn’t want to take the time to explain to the police.”

It doesn’t take much time to file a stolen property report.

I also recently had my bike stolen, and I did report my stolen bike to the police, and they were very quick and well-mannered in taking my information. Unfortunately, my bike was not found, but my friend did locate his bike by himself. It was found in the back of his friend’s neighbor’s backyard, smashed and broken. Reporting the bike to the police could have helped him get reimbursed, and justice for what was done do his bike.

The police are there to help you stay safe, and keep your property protected. So why waste a service that is provided to us by not reporting stolen property? Report crimes to your local police force, get involved, and stay protected. It is our duty as citizens to provide our police with information on crimes. After all, calling 911 is as simple as dialing three letters!