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The Rice Thresher
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by Rachel Shiffrin for the Thresher Eleven backpacks, six wallets, four purses and a briefcase, all left unattended, have been reported stolen since the beginning of September. Some of the items were later recovered but with money and other valuables missing. The University Police currently have no leads on any suspects. Police Chief Bill Taylor said he thinks one or two professional thieves are most likely responsible for all of the thefts. Typically, professional thieves come into one area, steal things for a while and then move on to another place, he said. "Chances are you could not pick these people out from others on campus," Taylor said. They watch people to see when and where they put their property down and then act like the stolen item is their own, he said. Elaine Stewart was in the library mentoring a freshman student when her purse was stolen sometime between 11:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. last Saturday. "I was sitting near the purse and I was focused on what I was doing and I did not have my eyes on the purse," Stewart said. The purse was later found on the opposite side of the library, but her keys and travel wallet were missing. She is offering $100 as a reward to anyone who can return those items. After she noticed the purse was missing, she was surprised to learn that there were no security cameras in the library. "That was the most shocking thing to me. It would be such an inexpensive deterrent. No thief is going to look at a camera and then take [the item] anyway," she said. According to Taylor, the best way to reduce the number of thefts is to educate people to watch their property more carefully. "Most people think of this as a pretty safe and secure campus, so they drop their guard and stop paying attention to their personal property," he said. "As much as we try to educate people and provide safety systems, people feel safe and act like [this is] home and don't realize their vulnerability," he said. Officers have considered leaving backpacks out as bait to help catch the thieves. Officer Dennis Senter also said the police are starting a program for the library similar to the Campus Watch program. "The main thing we are trying to do is eliminate crimes of opportunity," he said. He urged patrons and staff at the library to call the police if they see something suspicious, even if they're not sure there's a crime being committed. Another new security measure will be the addition of lockers for personal items in the Student Center to replace the cubicles in the convenience store.
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