The crime statistics for the 2003 calendar year, recently released by the Department of Public Safety, show a significant increase in campus burglaries.
The report, officially titled the "Annual Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act Compliance Document," shows a drastic increase in burglary incidents, up to 55 incidents in 2003 from 23 incidents in 2002.
Director of Public Safety John King attributes the spike in burglaries to a rash of portable computer thefts from dorm rooms and ceiling-mounted LCD projectors stolen from classrooms.
"Several area colleges had the same problems," King said. "Some group of thieves figured there were opportunities to steal from institutions or individuals within those institutions."
The report, which is produced under the national Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, defines a burglary as a theft where a trespass has occurred.
No arrests were made in the thefts at Tufts.
But according to Tufts University Police Department Captain Mark Keith, "at the end of November there were some arrests made by local police for similar burglaries in Somerville and Medford. While these arrests were not directly related to the laptops, after [these suspects] were arrested, laptop thefts drastically decreased."
The incident raises questions about who has access to University buildings. The Jumbo-Fob security system allows only residents to enter dorms, but individuals frequently "piggy-back," gaining entrance by following an entering resident.
While King said that Public Safety "seldom looks at activity the fob system produces," the system does automatically log fob entrances to the building.
The armed robbery at Wilson House in April 2004 was the first incident in which the fob record was used to "provide additional information as to who may have been entering the building around that time," he said.
Crime statistics for 2004, including the Wilson House robbery, have not been released, but King said "we have not had the level of theft that we experienced last year."
A 2003 campus-wide survey provided "a very strong sense that this is a safe campus," King said, but warned "this can work to the thieves' benefit. People think that this is a safe campus, a great place to be, and it is, but you still have to be aware."
He stressed that "larceny is a crime of opportunity."
Residents can prevent theft by locking doors "even to take a shower, even to go down the hall to talk a friend. It's that simple," King said.
Since the burglaries, the Department of Public Safety has pushed laptop security devices, which are available at the police headquarters for wholesale prices.
In addition to the rise in theft, there was also a rise in liquor law referrals to 236 incidents from 148 in 2002. Judicial Affairs Officer Veronica Carter attributed the spike to "a combination of standard fluctuation and [implementation of] the new policy, which encourages students and friends to call TEMS [Tufts Emergency Medical Service]."
No other categories of crime showed significant changes from previous years' reports. For the second year in a row there were no reported robberies.
Public Safety received reports of 11 sex offenses down from 13 in 2002, 47 drug referrals down from 49, and zero aggravated assault incidents down from seven.
Under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, which was passed in 1990, all universities receiving federal funds must report crime statistics annually.
