On the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 15, Brad Alexander ’08 called Public Safety (PSafe) to lock the doors to the sculpture studio in the Center for the Arts (CFA), where he had been working on his art studio thesis over winter break. When he returned to the studio Friday morning that week, Alexander was greeted with an unpleasant surprise.
“The $270 STIHL MS 170 chainsaw I was using for carving wood was gone, and the sliding doors of the studio next to where I kept the chainsaw were unlocked,” Alexander said. “Except for two other thesis students, no one else had been in the sculpture studio, and neither of them had asked for those sliding doors to be unlocked. Only Public Safety has the keys to that door.”
Not so, according to Director of Public Safety Dave Meyer.
“Custodial staff has the keys to those buildings, so the sliding door could have been accidentally left unlocked by someone other than Public Safety,” Meyer said. “There are generic keys to those buildings floating around, some stolen, so it is possible that a key could have reached someone outside the college’s community, allowing them to open the sliding door.”
Meyer also pointed out that there was no visible damage to the door, making it unlikely that the theft involved a forced entry.
According to Meyer, the art studio buildings are also not high on PSafe’s priority list for patrols, as they lack computers and the more desirable items found in dorms and labs. Nevertheless, he said, the building’s locks were checked on a daily basis by two shifts of officers during winter break. The blame may not rest solely on either of the on-duty officers of Jan. 15, who claim to have locked the sculpture studio’s sliding doors, or the custodial staff, but possibly on any one of the officers on duty between Jan. 15 and 18, whose responsibility it was to check and secure the building’s locks.
Alexander has mixed feelings regarding PSafe’s handling of the chainsaw theft.
“I spoke to [Public Safety Captain Michael Anthony] Kishimoto, who led the investigation into the chainsaw,” Alexander said. “He was helpful, though David Meyer has yet to return my call, which is frustrating. I just want a clear answer to why the door was never locked or why, after being unlocked by whomever, it was never caught by a patrol. I’m luckily done using the chainsaw for my thesis, but it was a really sweet chainsaw.”
Also questioning PSafe’s effectiveness is the victim of a bizarre dorm room break-in. The student, who asked to remain anonymous, returned to campus after winter break to find his room in disorder: expensive speakers slashed, several items missing and a used condom on the floor. The student found a note from PSafe by the window informing him that they had found the window open and closed it.
“It wasn’t pleasant to come back from break to find that someone had broken into my room and had sex in it while I was gone, without any warning from Public Safety,” the student said. “Other than that, they were pretty helpful. They got the cleaning staff to take out the condom and replace my bed, but there really isn’t too much that can be done after the fact. I just wonder if PSafe is doing enough to keep campus secure.”
A laptop was also reported stolen from a woodframe house over winter break, as well as several unattended wallets from the Freeman Athletic Center.
According to Meyer, this is a relatively small number of winter-break thefts. He attributes this to several factors, the most significant being PSafe’s increased vigilance regarding trespassers, which, according to Meyer, has led to a general consensus in the Middletown community that PSafe “means business.” Meyer also said that an increase in the number of people on campus during winter break, as well as the addition of audible alarms to many buildings, contributed to the decline.
In an attempt to further combat thefts, PSafe will start selling “STOP Security” plates at the Cardinal Tech Center as well as the PSafe Office. The plate is affixed to an item, and warns that the property is “monitored and traceable by the police” through a registered barcode on the plate. If the tag is removed, it reveals a permanent “tattoo” on the item. This tattoo marks the item as “stolen property,” and includes a phone number to call. Meyer believes that this product will help discourage thefts, as it decreases the item’s value.
Despite these efforts, many in the student body remain skeptical. Ravid Chowdhury ’09 pointed out that, according to the most recent 2006 campus crime report available on the PSafe’s website, incidents of burglaries and larceny have remained relatively stable between 2004 and 2006, with reported larcenies between 2005 and 2006 showing a slight rise.
“When this stagnancy in theft is compared to a pointed rise in drug and alcohol busts over the past several years by Public Safety, it suggests to the student body that Public Safety is spending much of its time and energy busting people when it could be keeping us safe,” Chowdhury said. “That’s not to say that they aren’t working hard to keep Wesleyan safe, but it certainly doesn’t do anything to counter the idea a lot of people have that Public Safety does a better job breaking up parties than reducing crime.”
President of the Wesleyan Student Assembly Matt Ball ’08 spoke more supportively of PSafe’s priorities on campus.
“Public Safety does put a lot of focus on alcohol and drug busts, but I think their motives are good and Wesleyan, compared to other schools, has a relatively lax policy,” Ball said. “I think they know that, they’re just concerned that someone will get hurt and have increased their presence on campus in response.”
Ball also commented on the relations between PSafe and University students.
“I think that some do not see PSafe in a positive light, but then again, that’s natural,” he said. “Public Safety are the enforcers and, as a result, some see them as the bad guys. Yet, I think there are a lot of students who have good relationships with Public Safety officers.”
Chowdhury, on the other hand, said that he has decided to run for senior class president next year partially because he wants to improve communication and relations between PSafe and the student body.
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