Caroline Rhoads
The Communicator

Petty theft and vehicle prowls are the most common crime committed on campus according to head of security Ken DeMello
Of the 25 thefts reported since school began in the fall, 13 of them were petty thefts. These thefts occurred all across campus, from the locker rooms to building 24.
There isn’t a consistency among items stolen either. “The thing that I would say is stolen most often, is anything that someone perceives as valuable,” DeMello said. Items stolen range from clothing and artwork to cell phones and laptops.
The National Institute of Justice defines crime hot spots as “small places in which the occurrence of crime is so frequent that it is highly predictable, at least over a one year period.” (website/sherman?). According to the NIJ, focusing on hot spots helps to deter crime, and can even offer benefits to surrounding areas.
At SFCC, however, there doesn’t seem to be any hot spots for crime.
“There really isn’t a pattern of behavior this year,” DeMello said. “We’ve had in the past where people are always getting their stuff stolen out of the gym lockers…we can’t say that this year.”
12 thefts have been vehicle prowls, which is where a thief breaks into a victim’s car to get at valuable items. “It goes in spurts” DeMello said, and “we haven’t had a vehicle prowl in a while.”
“We actually had two stolen cars” DeMello said, “on April 19th and 24th, and these may be related.” One of the cars was recovered on campus and because of the proximity, the thief “probably drove the stolen car in, dropped that one, jumped into this one and drove it away,.. but we don’t know that for sure.” DeMello said. The second car has also now been recovered.
Another important way to prevent theft is community involvement. “If you see something suspicious, report it,” DeMello said. According to DeMello, this is anyone that may appear out of place, loitering or milling around with no apparent reason to be there.
On April 14th, just a few weeks ago, a student walked into the rec room acting suspiciously, student Jordan DeWitt said.
“Someone’s phone was plugged into the wall charging and he walked up and unplugged it, goes ‘is this anybody’s cell phone’ and just walks out” DeWitt said, recounting what happened that day.
15-20 minutes later though, the thief returned, only to be confronted by DeWitt. “I said ‘hey dude, can you please give us the phone’” he recalls, but the thief refused. DeWitt was able to detain the thief with the aid of his friends while someone ran to get security.
According to DeMello, most of the theft on campus is due to a crime of opportunity, and the best deterrent is proactivity. “Don’t leave valuables out,” current student Rachel Teems said. If it is necessary to step away for a moment, entrusting them to peers is a good idea. “If you leave it with other people,” Teems said, “it doesn’t disappear.”