Author: Arielle Darr, Riley Hooper, Charlotte Strauss Swanson
On Sunday Oct. 6 at approximately 6:30 p.m. a student was doing homework on his balcony with his music on and the door to his room propped open when he randomly looked into his room to find a man rummaging through the contents of his desk drawer.
The student, who wished to remain anonymous, said he entered his room and asked the man what he was doing. “He said he was looking for his friend and tried to leave at which point I pulled him by his shoulder back into the room and closed the door,” the student said.
The student said he asked the man repeatedly what he took, to which the man repeatedly answered that he took nothing. The student discovered that his money was gone from his desk drawer. “I asked for my money back and what else he took. He said he took nothing,” the student said.
The student said he then went across the hall and knocked on a neighbor’s door, instructing that student to call Campus Safety. “My phone was on the porch. He [the burglar] was between me and my phone,” the student said.
The student then went back into his room and again asked the man for his money, which at this point the man gave back. “Then he asked me if I’d let him go. I said no because I didn’t know what else he had taken,” the student said.
Campus Safety arrived at the student’s room. According to the neighboring student who made the call, Campus Safety called her to let them into the building.
Campus Safety then took the man to their station and called LAPD. “Campus Safety called me ten minutes later to say that they found my wallet on him,” the student said. The student then went down to the Campus Safety station and testified to both Campus Safety and LAPD. “LAPD also came back up to my room and I went through the chain of events,” the student said.
The student said that an LAPD officer said that the man was under the influence of heroin.
According to a campus-wide e-mail sent out the next morning by Director of Campus Safety Holly Nieto, another suspect was also apprehended at the main door of the residence hall. The report said that both men had entered the residence hall by “tailgating,” or following behind a student entering the building.
According to the e-mail, both suspects were arrested for first-degree burglary and were taken into custody by LAPD. Nieto further told us that both suspects are currently in jail, unable to make bail.
The student whose room was burglarized has been issued a subpoena for appearance of witness to appear at the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Oct. 20.
“I’m just glad no one got hurt and that I got my stuff back,” the student said.
All colleges and universities are required by the section of the Higher Education Amendment of 1998 known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act to make crime statistics from the last three years available. According to Security on Campus, Inc., this law was first enacted in 1990 in response to the death of a college freshman who fell victim to rape and murder in her residence hall.
Oxy’s Campus Safety Web site abides by the law and provides crime statistics and information from the last three years of crime reporting that occurred on-campus and on public property immediately adjacent to campus. This Web site can be accessed at http://www.oxy.edu/CampusSafety.xml.
Not only does Oxy provide this information in the Guide to Campus Safety pamphlet and Campus Safety Department Web site, but Nieto said, “I over-report crime [. . .] I report more than they require.”
Oxy’s Campus Safety online report shows that building burglaries in residence halls increased from 8 in 2006 to 27 in 2007. The number of burglaries in the adjacent public property also increased, from 8 to 15 incidents from 2006 to 2007.
According to Campus Safety, in response to these crime statistics several sting operations have been trialed throughout campus. It has been found that residence hall doors have been left open almost every night, endangering students and leaving property at risk.
In light of the recent burglary on campus, Nieto says it is important to distinguish between the different types of theft on campus. “Petty theft is usually student to student [. . .] Burglary is usually an outsider,” Nieto said. These different types of theft are both easy to fall victim to but also easily preventable. “Most crimes on campus are crimes of opportunity,” continued Nieto. Nieto also suggests, if a student leaves something valuable in plain view on a car seat or leaves the door to their room open and unattended, they are creating a perfect opportunity for impulsive theft.
Nieto said that in Oxy’s surrounding neighborhood, crime is not considered to be a substantial problem. “Eagle Rock has one of the lowest crime rates in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area,” Nieto said.
Campus Safety works closely with the LAPD to understand and assess crime in the area. “I keep up with crimes occurring in and around the neighborhood. If there are threats in our community I want to know. I keep up to date on what’s happening,” she said.
According to the Oxy Web site, many upper-class students choose to live off-campus; about one-fourth of students choose to live in Eagle Rock for at least one year at Oxy. “I feel very safe living off-campus. I have been lucky enough to never been the target of theft,” off-campus resident Peter Polydor (senior) said.
Although both off and on-campus housing have proven relatively safe, there are always crimes that go unreported for a variety of reasons. As Nieto said, sometimes “you know crime is there [. . .] but it doesn’t get reported. If we hear rumors we’ll start looking at [. . .] what is fact [. . .] but I think students are pretty good at reporting crimes to us.” In addition, Nieto says the issue is that many students never follow up and file a report with the LAPD.
According to Nieto, to prevent future burglaries and minimize petty theft, Oxy students must become more aware of potential crime on campus. Students should not leave valuables in the open or unattended in a car, nor should they prop open doors to residence halls. Rooms should not be left unlocked or open, and no matter how uncomfortable this may be, students should not let unrecognizable people into residence halls. Nieto suggests to simply tell them you are unfamiliar with them and politely ask to see their oxy ID or ask of there is someone they can call to let them in.
“If there is risk, I want to make sure students are aware and can make better decisions,” Nieto said.
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
