by Christie Reed
Managing Editor
In order to improve security and deter future thefts and break-ins, the University of La Verne is looking into hiring additional security officers, implementing more security cameras and selecting a new head of security.
“We are currently in the process of hiring a new head of security with a comprehensive plan that will be a collaborative effort among the whole University,” said Dr. Loretta Rahmani, dean of student affairs.
The six incidents of thefts and break-ins reported at the University of La Verne over the last three months have created the need to discuss reasons and potential solutions to these recurring problems.
Security Officer Tom Erickson said the most recent departmental break-ins on March 2, resulted in thousands of dollars of stolen equipment from the Music and Education departments, yet no fingerprints or signs of forced entry were found at either crime scene.
“It may have been two burglars or one who hit two areas on campus,” said Erickson, but details are unknown pending an investigation by the La Verne Police Department (LVPD).
Just two weeks prior to the departmental thefts, the Vax terminal was stolen from the Student Center, and once again no signs of forced entry were found.
“One thing that could be a pattern is that all the recent computer thefts have taken place on the Friday night before the computer swap meet [at the Pomona Fairplex],” said Dr. Rahmani.
She has also researched and discovered that “a lot of schools are experiencing computer theft.”
In hopes of preventing further thefts, Dr. Rahmani plans to increase security patrols on weekends of the swap meet.
Another pending issue created by the most recent departmental break-ins is the means of entrance by the burglars. Erickson recalled that there was one officer on duty that night, and that both the buildings and doors were checked and found to be locked, so the possibility of keys being used by the perpetrator has also raised concerns.
“One could conclude that keys were used,” said Dr. Rahmani about the recent thefts. “We are taking steps in key control issues so we can avoid any of these issues in the future.”
Last Wednesday, representatives from security, maintenance, housing and housekeeping met with Steve Grey, chief financial officer and Dr. Rahmani for their bi-monthly grounds meeting. On top of the agenda were security issues, and more specifically, key policies.
“If it was a key entry, we plan to solve the problem,” said Dr. Rahmani.
Along with departmental thefts, car vandalism have been on the rise.
Erickson said that security officers patrol parking lots both on foot and by cart, and are constantly on the look-out for suspicious activity, yet three incidents of car vandalism and theft have been documented since January.
Last month, junior Jason Costello went to the parking lot after a full day of classes to find his car missing. It was reported stolen to LVPD and retrieved in a Los Angeles underground parking structure the next day with more than $2,000 worth of damage. ULV security had not heard of the incident until it was reported by the Campus Times the following week.
There was a case of auto vandalism reported to ULV security on Feb. 5, when a window was smashed in a 1987 Dodge Ram pick-up truck, but nothing was stolen from within the vehicle. The damage to the truck was estimated to be $400.
Nearly a month before the smashed window incident on Jan. 9, there was a report of a cellular phone theft from a Honda, but security remains uncertain as to whether it was lost or stolen, since there was no sign of forced entry into the vehicle.
Erickson claims that the officers make a minimum of three rounds through the parking lots per shift, mainly for visibility, which might deter criminals.
“We also walk back and forth through the parking lots when we get calls,” said Erickson, in regards to the prevalence of security on campus.
After the latest car theft, both Erickson and Dr. Rahmani realized that there is a communication gap between students and security.
”I think there needs to be better communication between students and ourselves,” said Erickson. ”For example, Costello did the right thing by calling LVPD first, but at some point we should have been notified.”
ULV security meets with LVPD two to three time a week, but every incident is not reported to security.
“I think it is important that security be notified of all incidents that take place on campus,” said Dr. Rahmani.
“How can we make students aware of incidents such as these if we don’t even know that they are happening?” asked Erickson.
He also adds that “security is everybody’s business,” and there are things employees, students and faculty members can do to prevent themselves from becoming victims of these types of crimes.
Erickson recommends that anyone who has a computer, or anything valuable, tie it down with cables.
“The thieves didn’t touch the computers [in the Education Department] that were tied down,” said Erickson.
Tie down cables are available to the University staff through maintenance, but students can tie down their computers on their own.
Another precautionary measure is to engrave anything of value with a serial or social security number to make it easier for a valuable item to be traced if it is retrieved by the police department.
Erickson also recommends that everyone be very careful about who they give their keys to.
“The University needs to review their key policies and be sure that when a person is no longer an employee, we get the keys back,” said Erickson.
Dr. Rahmani feels that most important step to ending thefts and break-in, is to instill a neighborhood watch spirit on campus.
“It is important to call security if you see anything or anybody that seems out of place,” she said.
