Education A National Roundup

Robberies of Students’ Laptops Bedevil Police in Florida Town

By Catherine Gewertz — November 30, 2004 1 min read
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Robbers, some of them armed, have stolen 16 laptop computers from students at a Florida high school. The thefts have occurred since mid-October, when all 2,600 students at Miramar High School received Apple iBooks as part of a pilot project to integrate technology into the curriculum, said Keith Bromery, a spokesman for the 271,00-student Broward County school district.

Ten of the laptops were taken by robbers—eight of them armed with guns— as students carried the computers to or from school, said Officer Bill Robertson, a spokesman for the Miramar police.

One robber brandished a hammer in an attempt to take a laptop, but the targeted student was not carrying one. Six additional laptops were taken from inside the school when students left them unattended, Mr. Robertson said.

Four teenage boys have been arrested in the incidents, and five computers have been recovered, said Mr. Robertson. Students have been urged to leave their computers at home.

A version of this article appeared in the December 01, 2004 edition of Education Week

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