Staff Editorial
Students, staff and faculty at Seaver College conduct daily life with a general feeling of safety and security. The quiet of the Malibu campus, indeed perhaps the serenity of the mountains overlooking the ocean, seduces us into believing that crime cannot penetrate our tiny bubble.
The perception of safety and security is so strong that many students don’t bother to lock their doors, put away their valuables or take special precaution with their laptops.
And then they get stolen.
Theft is the most prevalent crime at Pepperdine. It is also the most preventable.
Thieves snagged the belongings of students in the Florence program while they were on winter break, but most thefts on the Malibu campus occur when students leave their belongings unattended or unsecured.
Thieves are particularly fond of laptops. Public Safety Investigator Ed Young reported that there were nine laptops stolen in 2001. Computers, however, are not their only targets. Public Safety recorded 83 thefts last year, including 42 petty thefts where the value of stolen items is less than $400 and property was unattended; 23 grand thefts where the value is more than $400 and property was unattended; and 18 burglaries where the thief illegally entered a residence with the premeditated intention to steal.
Young said that at least 80 percent of these thefts resulted from people leaving doors unlocked or property unattended. He said that in some instances, thieves also entered by pushing open windows and screens. Five of the laptops stolen, however, were stolen in the library when owners left their property unattended.
Senior business major Jaime Smith fell victim to this type of theft on a Friday evening in the library last semester. “I went to the bathroom and when I came back two minutes later it was gone,” Smith said.
He filed a report with Public Safety and the Lost Hills Sheriffs Department, but they did not recover his laptop.
A Graphic editor walked through two male and female residence halls last semester, testing the security of the buildings. Nearly all of the suite doors were unlocked and nearly 60 percent of bedroom doors. Valuable property including laptops and video game sets were unattended in unlocked suites.
The moral here is simple. “We need to take certain steps to secure our surroundings,” Young said.
The Graphic staff agrees.
All students need to make sure that they lock their room as well as suite doors. Do not leave valuable property in the suite or in the open. As laptops are key targets, get a lock for yours or make sure you hide it when you leave your room. Leaving it out on your desk is equivalent to handing it to a thief. If you take your laptop with you throughout the day, take precautions. It can be gone in an instant.
Young also recommends that students write down the serial numbers of their laptops and other personal property. He said that 95 percent of the victims of theft do not know this basic information, which is the best help to law enforcement in retrieving stolen property. Young speaks from experience, as he has had two laptops stolen himself. The first occurrence he failed to write the serial numbers down; the second instance he did, and because of this was able to retrieve his property.
Students who live on the ground floor need to take additional precautions. First floor windows can easily be popped open, even if locked from the inside. Just take care to place valuables out of sight.
The Graphic staff also recommends that the university look at improving the security of windows on ground floor rooms. Joe Patterson, the director of Central Plant Operations, states that Pepperdine might be able to purchase special pin locks if such devices were shown to deter theft.
Public Safety does regular security walk throughs on campus, but Young said these must be squeezed in between other calls. The Graphic staff also recommends that these walk throughs be increased, specifically during Convocations and other times where residences are vulnerable, but we understand that students can do the most to protect their own belongings.
It is sad that students need to be concerned with theft on campus, but it remains a fact of life. And the plain fact is there are simple ways to prevent it. We may go to a Christian university, but why make it easier for someone to break Mosaic Law when a locked door and more careful action are such a simple reply.
February 07, 2002