Since the beginning of the semester, there have been three occasions of early morning money thefts in High Rise that occurred in unlocked rooms.
“The community that encroaches on us isn’t necessarily the most favorable, and a good example of that is the High Rise theft,” said Jim Humphrey, the Director of Campus Security.
To Humphrey, dealing with theft at school makes dorm life uncomfortable, and it forces students to take precautionary measures. Humphrey said that the rooms were occupied when their money was stolen.
“You assume everybody in your dorm-space is like you and they’re going to be respectful of what’s yours. You’re respectful of what’s theirs, but sometimes, that’s not the case. It could be someone within the dorm, or it could be someone from the outside.
“Most of the crimes that happen on campus – a fair portion of those are from someone off campus, but they look like a student. They just see an opportunity, take it and leave.”
Whoever the thief is, Humphrey explained, he/she has plenty of practice in theft. Going into occupied rooms a few hours before the occupants wake up takes “boldness” and the thief is ‘not worried about being caught” and “they are going to do whatever it is they want to do, regardless if someone’s there or not.”
Humphrey’s biggest fear is what happens if a student wakes up while they are being robbed.
“In those situations, the majority of the time, if someone wakes up, the thief is going to leave as quick as possible because they don’t want to get caught. As soon as a person is able to, make sure to call [campus security], because we might be able to catch the person while they’re still on campus,” Humphrey said.
Students are also asked to identify as much about the person as possible during those few seconds. Humphrey also said not to chase after the thief if they get away, as it’s “not worth it for a few bucks and a wallet.”
Campus security still is unsure who is committing the crimes, but Humphrey is sure security will bring the thief to justice, and he also asked students to help in any way they can.
“We’re going to catch the person, and when we do catch [them], [they] will be charged and spend some time in jail. If anyone has any ideas, any suspicions, we’re open to hearing all of those.”
In the meantime, students can help themselves by locking their door at night and when they leave their room.
“[One] of the simplest things we can do around campus is lock our door at night. We encourage students to do that continuously across campus, regardless of what dorm they live in,” said Humphrey, who also believes that the root of many crimes are the result of leaving valuables and doors unlocked.
“If we could get everyone to lock their stuff and lock their doors, 99.9 percent of theft here would just go away,” Humphrey said.
Humphreys offers additional security tips
Simplicity is key, and when it comes to campus security, it is no different to Humphrey.
“There’s no cosmic secret; [security] is very basic, fundamental stuff, but it’s those basic fundamental things we often let our guard down on,” Humphrey said. One recommendation is locking doors and hiding valuables out of view.
“Sometimes you’ll hear that we live in this “Lipscomb bubble” – nothing bad from the outside is going to come in to our community,” Humphrey said. “Unfortunately, that’s just not the case.
“We have had some vehicle break-ins both last semester and this semester already because there was something visible of value, and it literally only takes five seconds to break a window, grab it and leave.”
Those kind of crimes are what campus security calls “crimes of opportunity.”
By eliminating the temptation for theft, Humphrey said that it “keeps the honest man honest.” He recommends simply locking a door and hiding valuables.
Humphrey also shared what he tells new students about safety.
“It’s unfortunate, but [students should] treat their campus living environment just as they would as if they were downtown. They wouldn’t leave their doors open downtown. They wouldn’t leave their stuff out in public view. They wouldn’t leave it unsecured, assuming nothing is going to happen to it. And you have to carry that same mindset even onto campus.”
This “situational awareness,” as campus security calls it, is vital in creating an even safer campus environment. Humphrey said that things like the time you arrive on campus, traveling in groups and utilizing campus security escorts can help individual safety.
With a student body that features “ages seven to seventy,” Humphrey said distinguishing who is a student and who isn’t is tough.
“It does make it more difficult to try to point out who’s supposed to be here and not supposed to be here, but people’s intuition can usually be pretty good. So if you see something odd about [a person’s] behavior, it doesn’t hurt–ever– to mention it to somebody. A lot of times, R.A.’s are the best ones to mention it to. If it looks odd to them, [they will] address it, or [they will] give us a call and we’ll address it.
“The other major thing I would encourage any student: if they see something, say something. Don’t assume somebody else is going to say something about it.”
If you have any questions, comments, incident reports or escort requests, do not hesitate to contact campus security at 615-966-7600. This is a 24 hour number.