Ocean campus plagued by wave of thefts

By Liska Koenig
The Guardsman

With more than 66 incidents of theft, the Community Health and Wellness Center and the Rosenberg Library on Ocean campus have been hit hard by the most recent crime wave at City College during the fall 2009 semester.

While the crime logs of the San Francisco Community College District Police Department also report various incidences of vandalism, driving without a license and others, the majority of these crimes have been property crimes, said Rachele Hakes, public information officer with the SFCCDPD.

Property crimes are defined as offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson, according to Hakes. The majority of cases on City College campuses are larceny-theft cases, or the unlawful taking of property with the intent to keep it.

“In the library, people see the opportunity to take somebody else’s belongings because students don’t pay attention,” Hakes said.

Big warning signs have been placed prominently all over the library to remind students to be aware of their surroundings and not  leave their personal belongings unattended. By initiative of the library department and the police, fliers were also distributed throughout campus to alert students and faculty about the situation.

“The amount of thievery in the library is incredible,” said Charles Fracchia, department chair of the City College Library and Learning Resource Center. Despite more frequent police patrols throughout the library and warnings over the public announcement system, laptops, backpacks, cellular phones and even purses hanging over the back of chairs have been stolen.

“We have identified a group of three people. One of them will distract the victim by asking a question while another one will steal from that person,” Fracchia said. This group of potential suspects has been recorded on videotape, but, so far, the library department has not been able to catch them or anybody else in the act.

Thefts in the wellness center occurred in the second floor men’s locker room and the ground floor women’s locker room during class time or late training sessions. To prevent further incidents, but still give students an area to change for their classes, the men’s locker room will be locked 15 minutes after each hour and re-opened 15 minutes before the hour.

As the result of an undercover operation by the college police department, one person was questioned regarding the thefts in the men’s locker room.

“This individual had been acting suspiciously and hanging around the area. Since we didn’t have any evidence and this person wasn’t currently taking classes, all we could really do was to tell him to not come back to campus,” Officer Connie Hector said.

Since the individual was asked to leave, however, the number of thefts in the wellness center has decreased significantly, according to Peg Grady, women’s athletic director for the physical education department.

“Campus police even brought in San Francisco police to evaluate the security situation in the locker rooms,” she said.

Unlike the student lockers on the second floor, the women’s lockers on the ground floor are used by City College athletes and assigned over a whole season. Part of the problem is that these lockers have mesh in their doors so that equipment can aerate, Grady said. This makes it possible to see into the lockers and spot possessions like iPhones, watches and other items of value. Some female athletes have covered these meshes with construction paper to prevent anybody from being able to see the contents.

“The police recommended to install closed circuit cameras, but for now that’s not an option. It’s a question of money,” Grady said. San Francisco police department security experts recommended a certain kind of lock to secure personal belongings in the wellness center locker rooms. Some students and athletes also use a number combination lock in addition to their regular lock.

“I am very pleased that campus police have been so proactive about this and hope that all these measures help to prevent further thefts in the wellness center,” she said.

“The best situation is to educate people and reduce the risk,” Hakes said.

Besides the flyers passed out on City College campuses, a crime alert note on the City College police Web site alerts students that dozens of these thefts take place every semester. It emphasizes the importance of removing anything of potential value from cars parked in the reservoir parking lot or other places close to campus.