Over the weekend of February 11th in the secured area of Campus Center 3rd floor, several desks were rummaged through and 50 dollars was taken. The money was taken from non-secured offices that showed no visible signs of forced entrance on the drawers where the money was taken.
Detective Paul Parlon, who is in charge of the ongoing investigation, discussed the details of the case calling it a “crime of opportunity.” He described the difficulties with investigating in a high traffic area especially considering the large window of time in with the theft could have occurred.
“It’s a highly populated area so you can’t really do finger printing on it… we would have to get elimination prints from everybody who ever walked through there or touched those desks and that could number in the hundreds,” explained Detective Parlon.
The area in question is only accessible with an access card during the weekends, which, at first glance, would seem immensely useful to the investigation. In reality doors are often propped open and students will let each other into the area while studying.
“Yes, on paper [the Campus Center] looks secure, but what it comes down to is that people will be studying in the area and will let people in. In the last couple of years we have tried to crack down on that, especially on the weekends. We do building checks 24 hours a day and we will question people that are in areas that they are not supposed to be in,” said Detective Parlon. He stressed that “this is your school as well as mine,” so if you have an ID you have a right to be here studying and using the facilities.
Security has been stepped up, as the police are trying to do more pro-active work. Officers are constantly patrolling campus and have warned everyone about locking up their valuables.
The police received an anonymous phone call from an individual claiming that his or her friends had suffered similar losses on the 3rd floor, but no reports were filed.
As this is the only such larceny reported in Campus Center the police can only assume it was a one time occurrence and not part of a larger spree of thefts. They ask that if you have seen anything or have had anything taken, even if it appears small or inconsequential, to please contact them.