Task force created to prevent theft
By Gayle YglesiasThe Guardsman
Because of increased theft on campus, the City College Police Department is attempting to prevent crime and protect students by informing them of the issues.The numbers of burglaries and thefts have increased each year on the Ocean Campus, but not on any of the other City College campuses. This is in part because Ocean campus is the largest campus in both student population and property size.The Rosenberg Library and the Wellness Center on the Ocean campus have been primary targets for larceny. “People will go to the library to take a nap and put their head down, and they immediately become victims of theft,” CCPD Public Information Officer Rachel Hakes said. “They will leave their belongings spread out beside them, making it easy for anyone to walk by and steal their things.”In the Wellness Center students keep their belongings in lockers often unattended during class time, thinking they are safe and secure, but thieves have proven otherwise. “I never leave anything valuable in my car,” City College student Danielson Capuz said. “I know anything can happen with the parking lot being so far away from the actual campus and it seems pretty easy for theft to occur. I don’t see anyone patrolling the parking lot for suspicious activity, so it’s a red flag for students and teachers.” The CCPD advises all students and faculty not to leave personal belongings unattended or within visibility inside their vehicles and classrooms. They are also pushing for faculty to remind students to be mindful of their surroundings.City College has implemented a task force whose main goal is to educate the community. Fliers, letters and emails to students and faculty have been used to inform the public about what’s going on. For example, fliers are given out as bookmarks in the library each time a student checks out and borrows a book.Although the CCPD has been affected by budget cuts, it’s trying its best to make things work with the resources available. A program called CompStat, short for computer statistics, was developed to monitor crime rates and is “a well-established and proven track record in reducing crimes and improving the overall operating systems of several major metropolitan police departments,” according to the San Francisco Police Department’s website.Last year, the SFPD stepped up to help City College prevent crimes from occurring on campus. “City College is part of the Ingleside District,” said Officer Hakes. “The crime statistics of City College reflect those of SFPD, so the Ingleside Police Department came and asked what they could do to help lower our numbers.”For those who don’t know, the main police station is located in Cloud Hall, Room 119 at Ocean Campus, 50 Phelan Ave. Information on crime alerts, statistics, prevention and other frequently asked questions can be accessed on the CCPD’s website. www.City College.edu/Departments/Public_Safety/index.html.
