After several months of sustained auto break-ins in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, the Washington University Police Department has issued a warning to students living in the area.

The Washington University Police Department’s (WUPD) action comes after neighborhood residents have lodged repeated complaints with the department to no effect.

Chris Lloyd, a physics graduate student who has lived in Quadrangle housing on Pershing Avenue for several years, had his car broken into twice in the past month. After the second burglary, he intensified his complaints to the Washington University Police Department.

“The incidents that I reported to WUPD never generated much interest,” Lloyd said of the break-ins. “What would happen if this were to happen on the South 40? There would be a huge response to try to increase the security in the area.”

Lloyd added that several of his neighbors had encountered similar incidents.

Though the crimes have increased recently, the pattern of thefts began as early as the start of the academic year.

Senior Britt Royal, who lives at the intersection of Waterman and Skinker Boulevards, had her car stolen one week before classes began and has heard of other incidents on her street.

“When I came back from work at 5 [p.m.] my car was still there [but] when I came to drive to a party my car wasn’t there,” she said. “I called the police and they said it’s definitely stolen. They found it in an East St. Louis impound three weeks later. I’ve been hearing things like that.”

Despite the pattern, WUPD, which works with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) in the area, may not increase patrols there because it would mean taking forces away from other areas.

“We’re always respectful of the fact that the jurisdiction in those areas is the independent municipality’s,” WUPD Chief Don Strom said. “We don’t plan to hire more staff. We’ve dedicated resources for those purposes but every time we do that we’re pulling resources away from other situations.”

But Lloyd says that WUPD’s responsibility, beyond increasing patrols, involves informing area residents of the crimes in a timely manner so that they can be on alert.

“You would think that the University would have a vested interest in maintaining patrols in that area,” he said. “This is not a slam against WUPD people or the neighborhood patrol, which usually does a good job, but this is a spike in crime that until about 12:20 [Thursday] was not broadcasted to the community.”

While Strom recognizes the need for communication, he noted that police wait to issue a warning until a trend in an area has developed—such as an increase of crimes on a certain day of the week or at a certain time—that allows investigators to more easily contain and prevent the thefts.

In this case, however, WUPD’s crime alert mentions that police have yet to identify a pattern in the crimes.

Still, Strom says there is no cause for sustained alarm in the affected area.

“There tends to be spikes and valleys that occur,” he said. “You may have an increase of a certain type of crime and then a pattern when you’re not seeing that. The problem that they’re experiencing in Skinker is not isolated to that area.”

Royal, whose apartment window was smashed recently, said that while she appreciates the police’s efforts, their effect is limited.

“I see Wash. U. police patrolling every now and then but unless they have police officers standing around all the time I don’t know what they could do,” she said. “I could feel safer. At night I feel like it’s not the safest area in town.”

Meanwhile, the crimes that have affected Lloyd’s car, though nothing has been stolen, have put a dent into his budget.

“I will note that the repair on my doors is starting to eat into my grad student salary,” he said.