A video recording device, apparently installed in order to observe impromptu sexual encounters, was removed from the men's bathroom on the lower level of the Tisch Library on Sunday by the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD). The incident marks the latest in a series of unusual acts of vandalism and voyeurism at the location, which is listed online as a "hot place" for homosexual sex in Boston.
The restroom is posted on www.crusingforsex.com - an online resource that facilitates sexual encounters between men - as a top Boston-region location for spontaneous homosexual sex. The site's "Cruisemaster," who identifies himself only as Keith, calls the project his "personal labor of love... dedicated to helping men around the world connect for sexual pleasure."
The web page, which lists University and other locations in categories by state, reads: "Tufts University, Boston: Action at the 1st floor men's restroom of the new Tisch Library, very hot place."
The device found in the bathroom, which included a camera and battery pack, was confiscated after a student reported seeing someone attempting to activate the contraption.
"We believe that an individual was spotted trying to install a camera in the bathroom," TUPD Lieutenant Detective Charles Lonero said. "I think it's more of a voyeuristic issue - violations to people's privacy. It's not a safety issue whatsoever."
Routine patrols of the location have failed to detect any suspicious activity, and no one has ever reported being approached or assaulted. The University has stepped up its surveillance of the bathroom, however, and encourages students to report any suspicious activity immediately to TUPD. Ironically, while a number of surveillance techniques have been attempted unsuccessfully in the past, the University cannot use video surveillance to help identify the suspects.
"We've stepped up the number of times that the circulation staff will walk through the bathroom," said Tisch Library Director Paul Stanton, who added that this problem is not one exclusive to Tufts. Similar problems have been reported in MBTA, bookstore, and library restrooms throughout the city.
Working from only a "vague description" of the perpetrator, the TUPD has yet to name any suspects in the case. While Lonero had not yet examined the evidence yesterday morning, he said that fingerprints on the device might assist the police in determining the identity of the suspect.
The restroom has been the target of numerous acts of vandalism, including holes drilled in the privacy panels, toilets adjusted so that they appear not to work, and the removal of stall doors. The partitions between the urinals are also removed routinely, and have been replaced over a dozen times in the last several years. Stanton also mentioned that mesh wire had been used to clog the toilets, presumably to discourage innocent patrons from using the facilities.
Library officials have worked closely with the TUPD to attempt to fortify the restroom with steel partitions and foolproof bolts. But vandals have found ways around the improvements, sometimes using power tools to drill holes and to modify toilet flows.
"It's been a source of great frustration for us," Stanton said. "There has been a problem over the past few years with the bathrooms, which I would call aggressive and repetitive vandalism."
"We want to be about the business of library service," he added. "Standing guard in our bathrooms is not our highest priority.... It's not that we don't care. We just haven't been successful so far in deterring it."
