Surge in car break-ins on UNC-Chapel Hill campus raises concerns among students

Police are seeking the individuals involved in breaking into several vehicles on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus Friday.

These latest car break-ins follow a similar incident that occurred less than two months ago when 15 vehicles were broken into at various locations on campus.

WRAL News spoke to several students on UNC's campus who expressed their concerns about the recent increase in car break-ins. They shared that they used to feel safe parking on campus, but the growing number of break-ins has them questioning their safety.

"To me, Chapel Hill was always kind of a safe place, and seeing this here now, obviously, times have changed," a UNC-Chapel Hill student said.

Eleven cars were broken into between 9 and 11 a.m. on Friday morning in the parking lot of UNC's Center for School Leadership.

"I saw the notification, and I was like, oh my gosh, I parked my car on campus. I hope nothing happened," the student said.

This incident is not an isolated one. On Oct. 17, 15 cars were broken into on campus, and the week before that, students reported three more break-ins. No arrests have been made in any of the cases yet.

With the high foot traffic on UNC's campus, especially in parking lots, student Rachel Fanning believes it's time for campus police to enhance security measures.

"More surveillance more broadly. I mean I live right there so I can see this parking lot all day," Fanning said. "There are UNC police that come through here occasionally but it's mostly at night. And obviously, this one happened in the morning. So I do think there needs to be an increase in surveillance."

Xyan Harrelson says that since this is a continuing problem, he doesn't understand how the thieves keep getting away with it.

"In this day and age there's actually no reason that he should not have been caught by now," Harrelson said. "Especially with all the technology that we have. Their cameras everywhere, and everyone has a camera in their phone."

This investigation is ongoing; WRAL News has contacted UNC police to see if anything is being done to deter future break-ins and still waiting to hear back.

In the meantime, police are encouraging anyone who parks on campus to play it safely. Lock car doors, remember to roll up windows, and don't leave valuables in the vehicle.