Recently, there has been an increase in thefts around the Elizabethtown College campus. Dale Boyer, assistant director of campus security, considers most of these acts as “thefts of opportunity,” which means that force is rarely used to access a room or office in order to steal items; instead, people are taking advantage of open, unlocked rooms.
Money was stolen from two unlocked offices in Nicarry and five bicycles that were left unlocked were stolen in October. This is an increase from the three thefts that occurred this past September.
“To be honest, we see these incidents go in cycles,” Boyer said, “Some semesters or years there may be a sharp increase. Then there is a drop off.” However, the crime data from Campus Security indicates that theft is lower this year compared to previous years. “If you stop to think about it, if you have a semester with just one person taking advantage of everyone’s trust, he or she can be responsible for numerous thefts before being caught,” Boyer said. “We have had much worse semesters, but if you’re the person with a stolen phone, tablet, bike or money, that’s not any comfort.”
Students may sometimes assume that it is acceptable and safe to leave their belongings unattended, which could be influenced from the College’s Pledge of Integrity.
“There was a day when that was true; however, those days are long gone, and that Pledge of Integrity is only as good as the character of the person signing it,” Boyer said.
To help combat theft, there has been an increase this semester in the visibility of Campus Security officers in the residence halls and around campus. They can be seen patrolling by foot, vehicle and bicycle. “Officers are required to get to know the RAs in each dormitory and take ownership for what takes place in the dormitories similar to the Department of Justices Community Police efforts implemented years ago across America’s neighborhoods,” Leo Sokoloski, director of campus security, said.
Campus Security is also working to implement community policing to decrease the amount of crime on the Etown campus and throughout the community as a whole. “Community policing on a college campus is, in essence, a collaboration between Campus Security and the campus community that identifies and solves campus-community problems,” Sokoloski said.
In this type of effort, law enforcement and Campus Security are not the only people contributing to maintaing a safe environment and community on and off campus. Members of the Elizabethtown community also contribute to the community’s safety efforts.
“Campus community members voice their concerns, contribute advice and take action to address these concerns,” Sokoloski said. “Community policing is a new initiative on campus. It is here to stay and with any new program or effort, it takes time to fully realize its effectiveness.”
To prevent future bike theft, Campus Security is recommending to keep bikes locked, take a color photograph so it is easier to identify and describe the bike and write down the bike’s serial number. To prevent theft in general, keep your doors locked when no one is in the room, use a locker when available and avoid leaving belongings unattended.
In regards to the recent thefts on campus, Campus Security is continuing its efforts to find who is responsible. “If every member of the campus community would begin taking common sense precautions such as locking doors and not leaving personal items lying unattended, we could almost totally eliminate future thefts. No opportunity, no crime,” Boyer said.
Contact Campus Security at SECURITY@ETOWN.EDU for more information on preventing crime or use the crime incident report form, available on the College website, to report crimes that have been committed on campus.
