Common sense can combat campus theft - Tired and stressed students make a prime target, security staff say. But basic precautions can often prevent theft!

 

Carmen Tong, an Environmental Management student at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus (UTM), fell victim to theft's swift hand when she accidentally left her Sony Erickson cellphone in the library washroom.

"I went back after five minutes, and it was gone," Tong says.

Tong says campus security wouldn't help her track down the cellphone. She wanted them to review security tapes, to search the building, to do anything to get her phone back.

"They didn't take action – they just brushed me off basically," she says. "All they did was take down my name and student number, and didn't do much about it."

Theft on college campuses has always been a problem. The only difference is today what thieves steal is often smaller and easier to stash and there are peak times – around exam time in December and April. And at many universities, including Queen's University in Kingston, exams bring a spike in theft on campus, says David Patterson, Queen's director of campus security.

Students are finding their cellphones, wallets, laptops and notebooks are growing legs and walking away when they're not looking or forget and leave them behind – but at one time, the popular but heavy IBM Selectric typewriters were prizes sought by campus thieves, says Len Paris, a U of T campus police officer with 30 years under his belt.

"You can't give a typewriter away today," he says. "But 30 years ago they were very attractive."

Back then, in the dark age of academia (before spell check and Wikipedia), a Selectric could cost up to $2,000, about the price of an expensive laptop today.

Paris, who now heads the police at UTM, couldn't comment on Tong's case specifically. But he says campus security should be students' first stop when they find out something has been stolen.

Still, he says, campus theft is best avoided the way it always has been– by employing some good old common sense.

"The thing we keep trying to reinforce with students on campus is if you go to the library, if you go to the student centre – you have to hang on to your property. You can't leave it unattended," he says.

Patterson says students at Queen's often make the same mistake.

"Most students leave all their stuff out, but then they want to go and take a break–so we remind students to take their wallets, their keys, their laptops, anything of value," he says.

During exam time, Queen's Stauffer library remains open 24-hours a day, seven days a week. This makes it an ideal spot for nabbing a laptop here or a cellphone there, as exhausted crammers stumble off for coffee. The library is not restricted to Queen's students, so anyone is able to enter.

"It is a public facility, and people need to be diligent to keep an eye on their property," Patterson says.

Students spend hours in popular study spots on campus, and while the mind is being moulded, common sense tends to take a nap. At any given time, the campus library is full of unattended laptops, wallets, iPods, and cellphones.

"There is a perception among students that if I go to the library, I can leave for an hour, two hours, three hours, and come back and my property is still going to be there," Paris says.

"Either they feel comfortable that it's not going to get stolen, or they want to hold their spot."

Not only will they lose their spot–they will likely lose their laptop as well. And it happens fast.

The culprit often remains in the library (as was the case with at least one slow moving laptop thief at UTM earlier this year), and if not, Paris says, there is still time to question witnesses and check security footage. If a wallet has been stolen, he adds, credit cards need to be cancelled immediately.

"Don't be too trusting," Paris warns. "Campuses are relatively safe–probably safer than most students' own neighbourhoods–but thefts do occur."

 

source: TorontoStar