REAL LIFE STORIES

Jamie Dos-Anjos

Jamie Dos-Anjos is a first year student living in Lupton Halls. At the start of October his ground-floor flat was broken in to whilst he was watching a film on the first-floor. He had left his doors and windows locked and had even pulled the curtains shut.

After watching a film in his friend’s flat on the first floor his block, Jamie went downstairs to find that one of his own flat’s windows had been smashed and the other was hanging on its hinges – despite the doors being locked and the curtains closed. Looking around, Jamie realised that his laptop and Xbox, which had been left on the desk, had been stolen.

Jamie called university security, who went along immediately to check out the scene, and he also called the police to report the crime. After the university security looked around the broken windows on Jamie’s flat they were boarded up so the police could investigate the scene the next day. Jamie had to temporarily sleep on his friend’s floor!

Jamie says: I felt really angry afterwards, especially since I’d closed the curtains, but these things happen and I realised there was no point in dwelling on it. Fortunately, Jamie was insured and was able to replace the lost items. He also has some advice to pass on to any fellow students who are concerned about crime and safety: Make sure you take all the correct safety precautions and, if anything bad does happen, don’t be afraid to tell the Police and university security – they’re really helpful and the more knowledge they have the easier it is for them to prevent this sort of thing in the future.

Interview: Ben Hockman, Krav Maga Instructor

Following the success of recently held self-defence sessions, Knowledge spoke to instructor Ben Hockman about the small changes everyone can make to ensure they're staying safe.

Knowledge: As you know, Knowledge and the Crime Reduction Partnership has been set-up to provide students in Leeds with valuable support when it comes to their personal security and safety whilst at university. Unfortunately we do hear about break-ins and violent crime against students, not just in Leeds but nationally. Why do you think this is?

I believe there are a number of issues affecting student security and the reasons that perhaps students tend to frequently be the victims of certain types of crime. The key considerations, in my view, are as follows:

When a student comes to University they are often living away from home for the first time. This means they are leaving an environment where most domestic security matters (door and window locks, leaving light-timers on etc) would probably have always been dealt with by their parents. They quickly find themselves in an environment, be it halls of residence or rented accommodation, where their own consideration should be given to some of these issues. As we know, there are so many distractions and so much going on while being a student that these are often forgotten.
Students often live in large, shared accommodation. I know from personal experience that it’s difficult when leaving the house in the morning to know whether you’re the first or last to leave, whether the door needs locking, burglar alarm setting etc. I think this ‘confusion’ does leave an opportunity open for domestic theft and break-ins
Again, from personal experience of being a student at the University of Leeds, and living in rented accommodation in LS6, landlords can often be more concerned with cost and in ensuring their properties are successfully rented, rather than in paying due care to implementing proper domestic security, which can also be costly. This is not always the case of course but I have seen it first-hand.
Academic term dates, and therefore accommodation occupancy in areas such as Hyde Park and Headingley is fairly predictable. Criminals know this and understand the students’ routines, when the big nights out take place, when term ends etc. For this reason, student accommodation can often be a ‘soft’ target
Criminals know that students frequently walk alone to and from University, and the routes they take, carrying valuable items such as wallets, phones and iPods

There are other factors at play but for me, these are the main ones.

Knowledge: What can students do to reduce or prepare for these risks?

Organise some sort of system with your housemates, such as a ‘sign-in or sign-out’ board, whereby everyone knows who is at home and who is not at all times. As well as helping with things like locking doors and setting alarms, this will help you to think in ‘security’ terms and also encourage simple things like ensuring you know who’s at the door before you open it etc.
‘Lean’ on your landlords; research the legislation applying to their responsibilities as far as Health and Safety and domestic security go and do everything you can to ensure that they comply and take your and your housemates’ safety and security seriously
Use common sense, obvious stuff really but consider: not walking home alone through or around areas such as Woodhouse Moor after dark. Stick to well-lit, main roads, even if it’s a longer route. Don’t walk in a quiet, non-lit area with your iPod on or talking on your mobile phone, try and let your housemates know what time to expect you home, etc.
Take advantage of free safety products supplied by Knowledge. Carry the attack alarm, use the UV marker pens to track valuable items, read about crime in your local area. Don’t be paranoid - just be prepared!
Train in some sort of self-defence/personal safety/survival system such as Krav Maga; not only will just 1-2 hours per week help you maintain a ‘personal safety mindset’ as you go about your daily lives but such training will also help you prepare physically and mentally for the unexpected. Again, it’s not about being paranoid but simply to consider that we unfortunately do live in a violent society where crime, particularly against certain groups including students, is relatively high. Engaging in any sort of confrontation, physical or otherwise with a mugger or burglar should of course always be an absolute, absolute last resort but for me, I would rather be prepared than un-prepared for what could be the most important 10 seconds of my life, than find myself in a situation where I really do have absolutely no options to help me stay safe. In my classes, I also always try to emphasise the use of your environment and objects around you to help you a.) stay safe in the first place and b.) respond effectively if ‘backed into a corner’. I think this is really valuable and often overlooked.

Why is your training, and Krav Maga specifically, so effective in dealing with the issues we’re discussing here? How does it compare to martial arts people may have heard of such as Karate or Judo?

In more specific terms, in my professional opinion, Krav Maga, and specifically Urban Krav Maga (UKM), which is the system I teach, provides an ideal training system for students, and anyone else for that matter, for the following reasons:

It places great emphasis on the pre-emptive ‘soft’ conflict management skills I mentioned previously. It also places significant emphasis on the ‘hard’ pre-emptive skills, vitally important to survival in any confrontational situation
None of it is reliant on size and strength to work - I’m 5’8” and weigh just over 70kg so I’m not in the business of teaching stuff that only works for big people!!! For this reason it’s great for women and kids as well as men.
UKM champions principals above specific techniques, a must when the pressure is on with limited decision-making time and high levels of stress
Through various means of training, it addresses both the emotional and physical responses to conflict that we are likely to experience in any given situation
Its techniques, concepts and principals are quick to learn, dynamic, and always supported by intensive scientific research and pressure testing, as well as being tested by those UKM Instructors who also work operationally in the security arena, such as myself
The way the system is taught helps re-create, in a safe training environment, the various chemical reactions that take place in the body when under stress and gets students used to, and confident in, performing under these conditions
Lastly, I would just like to briefly address the difference between training in a martial art, and what we are talking about here. For me, martial arts can be divided into three broad categories: sport-based, tradition-based and reality-based. I have no doubt of the various benefits to be gained by training and developing the attributes that both sport and tradition-based martial arts bring. This however is far removed from the subject area at hand, where we are ultimately preparing for what could be the most important 5-10 seconds of our lives. Through the training I offer through my business Beyond Fighting, specifically the Urban Krav Maga system, I address this specific gap in ‘standard’ martial arts and/or self-defence training.

Thanks very much for your time Ben. I know the self-defence sessions you have run in conjunction with Knowledge have been really well received and we look forward to working with you again in the future.

For more info about Ben, self-defence classes and to get in touch, please visit:

www.beyondfighting.com

Robert Bethell

Robert Bethell, 25, is studying an MA in Applied Translation at Leeds Uni. His end-of-terrace in Woodhouse was burgled in November 2009 after having a houseparty.

"I wasn't that surprised that we were burgled really, the party was a little out of control and the people who organised it were perhaps being a little naive about security. There were people in the street and the doors were open the whole time, anyone could have come in."

Although the party happened on the Friday night, the burglary wasn't in fact until around 7am the following morning while Robert and his housemates were asleep.

"My housemate's laptop and digital camera were taken, otherwise nothing was damaged. After the incident the Police came to visit, but informed us that this was such a regular occurence that there was very little chance of catching the culprit. The burglar probably gained access thorugh a window that had been left open to air out the house after the night before."

"Since this happened we've been more careful about having parties and realise that a burglar can enter at any time, and was probably watching the party waiting on the off-chance that anyone left a window open. We're careful to not leave windows open and also don't leave any valuables in shared areas of the house anymore."

Paul Gold & Jack Cheyette

Paul Gold & Jack Cheyette are LUU's new Community Officer and Welfare Officer respectively. They recently had an attempted break in at their new house, on the Stanmore's in Burley.

Both Jack and I thought we were pretty streetwise, as we were involved in Knowledge already and had lived in the area for a few years. We've just moved out of Hyde Park and into Burley, and we certainly never expected anything to happen on our very first night in our new house.

At about 1.30am I was woken by noises downstairs. Turning on the light I looked outside and saw a hooded man hanging around near the front door. Thinking he would leave once he knew people were inside, I turned away. A few seconds later I heard banging at the front door. I woke Jack and rang the police, who arrived really quickly. However, before they arrived the intruder had almost got into the house - by breaking through the thin glass of the front door. Neither of us had double locked the door, so he could have taken it off the latch once the glass was broken, but more importantly we had not locked the front porch, which had allowed him access in the first place! The police chased him away and assured us they would be staying around the area

That very morning when we had moved in, our landlord had shown us the alarm system, and advised us to turn it on even if we popped to the shops for 10 minutes. He also warned us to lock the outer porch door, keep the back door key out of the lock and double lock the inner door. That night, we had left the porch open, not double locked the door and neither of us had learnt how to use the alarm. Ignoring his advice on our very first night almost cost us.

No matter how safe you feel, or how unlikely it seems that something may happen to you, it always pays to be alert, so use all available means to make sure your house is safe and secure.

Sophia James

Sophia James, 21, is LUU’s Equality and Diversity Officer and previously studied Politics and Sociology at Leeds University. Her house, not far from the Royal Park pub, was recently broken into on a Wednesday afternoon just before 4pm.

“I was in the house at the time, off work as I had swine flu. The burglar broke through the back door with relative ease in two attempts as only one of the back door locks had been applied because our landlady had been slow at giving us the keys for the others. As soon as I heard feet scutter in and no one say hello, I shouted “oi” and grabbed the head of the vacuum cleaner to bang on the stairs. When it went quiet downstairs I ran into my room, locked the door and called the police.”

Despite there being a Digibox, DVD player and a packaged, brand new Sony Walkman MP3 player in the lounge, the burglar didn’t take a thing.

“The police were great and within five minutes I had eight police officers running around my house. They didn't catch the burglar but since then we've had extra locks put on our doors by the landlady and I've got insurance (something I'd not done in previous years). We also always leave a light on so it never looks like we're out.”

Sophia had a really lucky escape. However, if her locks had been fitted properly in the first place, the intruder probably wouldn’t have got as far as they did. If there are any outstanding security issues with your house, make sure you write to your landlord or letting agent, listing what the problems are and how they should be resolved. Also if you’re not already insured, don’t wait until something like this happens to you before looking into it… by then it may be too late.

Debbie Grimmond

Debbie is a 20-year-old Physics and Maths student at the University of Leeds. Her house - a four-storey terraced house in Headingley - was broken into at around 9pm on a Saturday night in November.

How did the burglar get into your house?

The burglar gained access by kicking in a basement window, which is partially hidden from view from the street. I was in my bedroom at the time (which is in the attic).

What happened following the incident?

The police came round about an hour after the incident. They stayed for about an hour, did a search of the property, asked what had been taken and took brief witness statements. They then helped us to activate the LoJack software which had previously been installed on the stolen laptops. My landlord came round to board up the broken window. We phoned the insurance companies the following day and had to provide proof of purchase for the stolen items. The police came round to dust for prints and a few days after that to take full witness statements. The police kept us updated with information about the stolen laptops as they were being traced.

What were the main concerns of your housemates when they realised their laptops had been stolen?

They were mainly concerned about having lost their photos and music on their laptops. Luckily they had hard copies or back-ups of coursework.

How would you explain what LoJack/Computrace is to other students?

It’s a piece of software which, when activated, allows the computer to be traced whenever it is connected to the Internet.

At the time of the burglary I didn't have the LoJack software on my computer (which wasn't stolen), but after having both of my friends' stolen laptops returned I got it installed very quickly. I very much doubt that the laptops would have been traced and consequently returned to their owners without the software.

Joanna Hart

We always thought it would never happen to us. We’d heard of friends who’d been burgled and underestimated the disturbance that it caused.

We went downstairs one morning to find all the cupboard doors and the front door open. Two TVs, GHD straighteners, a Wii console with eight games, a laptop, a digital camera, £25 cash, our house keys and two sets of car keys were taken.

We’d opened a window when we came back from a night out and had forgotten to close it before we went to bed. We called the police and an officer came and took details of what had happened. She told us that another four houses had been broken into on our street that night. She also said that usually the thieves aren’t caught. The forensics police came later on to lift finger and foot prints.

Thankfully all the items taken were covered on everyone’s parents’ insurances, as we’d decided not to take out our own cover. The landlord was understanding and got our locks changed straightaway. We also moved the cars to another area in fear that the burglars would come back for them as they’d taken the keys.

Later that night the police called to say they’d caught two of the five thieves. The police came with the laptop and the TV in a police evidence bag for us to identify. We made statements and now have to wait and see whether they are proven guilty.

Although everyone was very supportive, we can’t forget that someone came into our house and went through all of our things, breaking items to get to what they wanted. Although we can claim things on the insurance we’re still having to get by without them for the time being, and the laptop and TV are being kept by the police as vital evidence so we’re unsure when they will be returned.

We have all learnt our lesson now and never leave rooms with the windows open!