Campus sees spike in theft

Author: Scott Greene

The end of April brought a rise in theft at Middlebury College, with eight reported incidents from April 17 through April 25. The eight thefts make up one third of the total reported thefts on campus since the beginning of 2006.

Seven of the eight incidents involved the disappearance of backpacks or other valuables from Ross and Proctor Dining Halls, with one theft occurring at McCullough Student Center. This phenomenon is not unprecedented at the College.

"We do have periods of time when there are thefts specifically from the dining places," Assistant Director of Administration for Public Safety Melody Perkins said. "But we do have peak times for these thefts, and we're in one of those now."

Thefts have left students without coursework or thesis work, as well as iPods, Palm Pilots, cell phones, room keys and car keys. Though the illegal activities have primarily occurred around the two dining halls, Public Safety hasn't yet pinpointed a definite trend.

"Unfortunately it runs the same type of pattern," Perkins explained, "which is random enough for us not to be able to see any suspicious behavior occurring at certain times of day."

When a student reports a stolen item, Public Safety writes an incident report documenting the missing property. Students are asked to recall the contents of missing bags or backpacks, except in cases in which the thief searches through a bag and takes a wallet or other items. Public Safety then sends the incident report to the Risk Management Office, as well as to the Dining Hall Director.

"Investigation involves an officer going to the dining facility where the theft occurred," Perkins said, "and those are when they're reported to us within a reasonable amount of time." At the scene, Public Safety asks both the dining hall staff and students if they had seen any suspicious activity.

"We also go to the extent of going through the entire complex to see if somebody ditched the bag after taking what they wanted out of it," she noted.

Oftentimes this is just a formality. Of the eight thefts, only three bags have been recovered. All three were taken from Proctor Dining Hall on April 17. However, the locations of recovery have not allowed Public Safety to establish any type of pattern. One bag was recovered in Hepburn Hall, while a second was found in town. A third bag resurfaced in Amherst, Mass.

"It's one thing to find it on a road in Middlebury, or at a party spot in Weybridge," Perkins said, "but to find it in Massachusetts?"

Adam Morgan '08.5 owns the bag that emerged in Amherst. He said that another student found the backpack in the local train station and discovered his Middlebury ID. Though his wallet, calculator and cash were missing, his books and notes remained inside. The theft occurred during visiting students weekend.

"Since there are rarely thefts on normal weekends I attribute it to one of the prospies," Morgan said. He believes that in a majority of the cases, College students are not culpable.

Dean of the College Tim Spears said it is still too early to determine whether this most recent wave of theft is permanent.

"Sometimes we have to finish out the whole year to figure out whether the perceived spikes in thefts or any incident are more apparent than real," he said.

Despite the increased prevalence of theft, the College will not install surveillance cameras anytime soon. Though last year the administration discussed the feasibility of putting cameras outside the dining halls with the Student Government Association, the idea did not receive much positive feedback. In addition, students voiced concerns regarding invasion of privacy.

"In the end the administration felt that having cameras outside would be pretty intrusive and people outside ultimately wouldn't be comfortable with it," Spears recalled. The College does utilize electronic surveillance at the Health Center and the museum inside the Center for the Arts.

Still, having a bag stolen can change one's perspective on the possibility of surveillance. Jennifer Williams '08 lost a bag to theft on Monday, April 24, and understands why students are reluctant to accept what she calls a "violation of their trust."

"But I also understand what if feels like to have your trust violated without warning," she commented, "and the anger that comes from realizing that with security cameras, the theft could have been prevented. Maybe security cameras are not part of Middlebury's culture, but the student body and administration need to realize that Middlebury's culture is changing, and theft is a reality we have to do something about."

In the meantime, Perkins said, the only way to catch a thief is to catch the person with the property, or to have somebody come forward. She encourages anyone with information on a theft to contact Public Safety.

The best way for students to prevent theft, she said, is to drop belongings off at their residence, or simply to not take valuables with them to class.

"I know that's difficult," she recognized, "but that would definitely prevent them from being victims of a crime."