Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Dormitory crii By ANDY THOMPSON 000"Yol Gamecock Staff Writer Several weeks ago a USC student left his keys lying on the gym floor of the Blatt Physical Education Center while playing basketball. When he finished, he discovered his keys were missing. By the time he got back to his Towers dormitory, his door was open and his wallet, watch and some change was missing. Another student left his room open and unguarded for only a few minutes. His window fan was stolen. There were 15 dorm larceny cases reported in University housing during September. Lieutenant Norman Sanders of Campus Security said that a good per cent of this crime was due to unlocked doors in the dormitory. SANDERS SAID he has not "noticed any great trend but it varies from month to month and seems to average out." During September of last year, there were seven larcenys reported in University housing, eight fewer than this year. But in September 1973, 20 larcenys were reported, five more than this year. Since January, there were 68 reported larcenys in University housing, he said. Although holidays might seem like prime times for dorm crimes to occur, Sanders said they do not have that many. "Most students take their stuff home over the holidays," he said. In January of this year only four larceny cases were reported to security officials. This is the month when most students return from Christmas vacation and discover items stolen while they were away, Sanders said. MOST OF these kinds of crimes are never solved, Sanders said. This is because such a long time period passes from the time a crime occurs and is re orted, there is little poysicalevidence and there THIr E M ie a can't protect a student who are not any witnesses. In petty larceny cases of less than $100 reported during July 1974 through June 1975, the recovery rate was around 20 per cent on value of the stolen goods, said George A. Key, director of Public Safety, Security and Communications. "Cash is what they (criminals) are looking for," Key said "We find this is true because we often find the billfold." Very few cash money thefts are solved because you can't trace the money, he added. "WHEN A crime is reported in one of the dor mitories, we put out a call on the radio and the patrolman nearest the scene of the crime answers the call," Key explained. "The only thing you can do there is get the information and make out a report on it." "All patrolmen do preliminary investigating," Key said. They also have two professionally trained investigators who carry out further investigations. Campus security patrols the University "within reason," Key said. "You have to come up with something that you can afford, that is why we stress prevention," he continued. There are three patrolling shifts, Key said. On the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift, five officers are patrolling. They have 10 officers on the 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. shift, which is the most active. After 1 a.m. there is a drop back to five or six officers. "We work in liason with local police, State Law Enforcement Division, and the sheriff," Key said. "We utilize every resource available in the recovery of stolen items." HE SAID that security sends out pamphlets and flyers to residency hall advisors to put in unlocked dorm rooms. These flyers remind the student that he e * * GatSent ROR S..Jo l doesn't want to be protected' could have been "ripped-off," he said. USC Housing Director Robert A. Stewart said "We are always looking for ways to make the student more security conscious. The students that are concerned about it are the students that have been robbed." One seucirty system being considered, involved changing the locks in dormitory rooms every year or two, Stewart said. They would have to make such a plan fairly economic because housing receives only the money they collect from students in rent, he added. They are also considering a code system to identify dormitory keys and make it harder for strangers to locate the room the key belongs to, he said. The system used by housing to identify keys involved placing the first letter of the dorm and the number of the room on the key. LAST YEAR, a security system was set up in the Towers and Preston dormitory. It used fire locks on entrance doors that were to be locked late at night, leaving only one entrance into and out of the dorm. "It was a serious measure," Stewart said. "The whole thing was to provide them with better security." Of the twenty-one fire locks installed, 20 were damaged a few weeks later, he added. Students evidently felt this was a restriction on their freedom, he said. "You can't protect students if they don't want to be protected," he said. "Vandalism has always been pretty high. It's a problem at every school. It takes more money that could be spent on improvements but has to be spent on repairs." Deiiu De i Sadwc 50 S a n d w i c an Al th0Be yo ca drn035 7-0on-a