It was a crisp April afternoon at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Amanda Miller was in a hurry. Covering her brand new iPod with what she could find from the floor of her 2004 Dodge Neon, she locked her car and rushed to class. The thought that she could become a victim of motor vehicle theft never crossed her mind.

 Miller returned to her parking spot five hours later, only to discover that her car was gone. Thinking that her car had been towed, she called the University of Maryland Police Department. To her disbelief, she was told that her car had been found in a nearby parking lot. In fact, it had been crashed into a guardrail, with the ignition ripped out and hotwired. Her brand new iPod was gone.

 Although her case is still ongoing, Miller relies on her sense of humor when talking about the events surrounding the April 2007 motor vehicle theft.

 “I am just lucky that my car wasn’t stolen by hardened criminals, but… I guess I also have the guardrail to thank for stopping their getaway” said Miller, now a sophomore at the University of Maryland. “I… always hide everything valuable under stray clothes or garbage… but my mom cleaned [the car] out the week before and I didn’t have good enough cover for my valuables. Now I have a solid excuse to tell my mom why I don’t want to clean my car,” she added.

 Miller is one of the lucky victims of motor vehicle theft.

According to the FBI 2006 crime statistics, the University of Maryland, College Park, had 57 reported cases of motor vehicle theft last year. None of the 11 other colleges and universities in Maryland had more than five reported cases of motor vehicle theft during the same time period.

College Park relies on hired off-duty Prince George’s County Police officers to increase the amount of coverage that Prince George’s County regularly provides. In an effort to lower motor vehicle theft, the Prince George’s County Police Department uses bait cars to try and catch would-be car thieves.

The University of Maryland Police Department, however, is not actively looking for these criminals.

“We’re not focused on auto theft this year. We’re concentrating our efforts on stopping armed robberies and catching the Peeping Tom,” said University Police Spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell. “Motor vehicle theft fluctuates over the years.”

Students at the University of Maryland were most recently shaken after learning of a Sept. 18, 2007 carjacking, during which a student and his girlfriend were carjacked at gunpoint in front of a campus dormitory at approximately 9 p.m.

In 2007, 39 motor vehicle thefts have been reported on campus so far, University Police said.

“[Where I park] is always deserted, and I don’t feel very safe,” said Mollie Wolfe, a freshman commuter at the University of Maryland.

Students living on campus have also become more wary of their surroundings, as the perpetrators become more and more bold.

“It’s not on the front of my mind, but it’s scary to know that people are stealing cars,” said Yesel Yoon, a senior at the University of Maryland. “Is this going to continue, or is it going to get worse?”

“When you walk around here, you can just feel the vibe that something… could happen at any given time,” said Jenny Madino