After two incidents of suspicious activity at different off-campus locations in the last week, Wells Farnham, Public Safety’s crime prevention lead officer, said crime near campus is not on the rise but still warned students about preventing a potentially dangerous situation.

According to a Public Safety advisory issued Tuesday, a St. Thomas student reported an unidentified suspect entered her residence on the 100 block of Cleveland Avenue at 2 a.m. on Sept. 27. The student told Public Safety she was in her room when the intruder came in her house. The suspect went into the bathroom and then left the residence.

Three days later, another student reported that someone was peeping in the basement window at her residence on the 2000 block of Dayton Avenue. She called Public Safety, and while she was on the phone, a resident on the first floor of the apartment screamed when she saw the suspect attempting to manipulate an air conditioning unit in the window. The suspect then fled the scene.

According to Farnham, these incidents, while critical, do not mean crime is on the rise. Farnham said it is not out of the ordinary for crime to increase at the beginning of the school year.

“On a college campus in September and October, you tend to see a spike in activity, in general, because students have returned to campus,” Farnham said. “Would I call this a spike? No, this is not a spike.”

Farnham said although off-campus crime isn’t rising, it’s still important to be careful.

“Don’t take your safety for granted,” Farnham said. “Be aware of your environment, and be aware of your surroundings. If you live off campus and something suspicious or criminal happens, call 911 immediately and again make sure that your doors and windows and that all of your locks are in functioning order.”

Off-campus resident senior Madeline Wehking said the two incidents are eye-openers.

“Hearing that is kind of scary,” Wehking said. “I do have to say we’re bad at locking our doors, which we should be better at.”

Farnham said a good way to prevent break-ins is to make sure all door and window locks are functional and to put them to use. It is also important to make sure all outdoor lighting is working.

“The student, who had the person wander into their house and walk into the bathroom and leave, did report to us that while the door handle was locked, the deadbolt was not. So not just door handles but deadbolts, too,” Farnham said.

Junior Will Harrison lives on Grand Avenue and said he takes multiple safety precautions.

“We have a flood light in the back of our parking lot and two locks to get in my room,” Harrison said.

Senior Bethany Cink said she is not worried about her safety because she always locks her doors and lives on the third floor of her rented house.

“I’ve heard about things happening like this before, and I know what to do if something like that happens,” Cink said. “It’s not going to change the way that I live.”

Living on a relatively safe street makes sophomore Marcus Yang feel comfortable because he said location and neighbors are important factors.

“There are some streets that are nice and others that are pretty bad,” Yang said.

Cink said she is taking Farnham’s advice to stay safe.

“We lock the door all the time; we don’t walk out late at night,” she said. “ You do what you can, and you hope it doesn’t happen to you.”