Muleskinner

Issue date: 9/7/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Melissa Roscher Open Doors - Unlocked doors in campus buildings allow for anyone to walk in and take items left unsecured.

Employees at the University Store contacted Public Safety after discovering two laptop computers were taken from the CMSU University Union Aug. 14.

Sergeant Matt Vessar of Public Safety said this is not the first time laptops have been taken, and most of the occurrences are in the dorms.

According to Vessar, the doors to most dormitories on campus are open until midnight. After this hour, anyone entering must have a key. Many campus buildings stay open late, while the Union keeps its doors open until ten o'clock every night except Saturday.

Computer accessories and compact discs are also popular items to go missing. Not all dorm residents secure their possessions upon exiting, and doors are sometimes left unlocked. The same is true for the other 26 buildings on campus.

In fact, the night before the laptops were taken from the Union, 14 exterior doors to campus building remained unlocked.

"Typically they're locked up, but we put out a crime report every day that shows the doors that were not locked," Vessar said.

Many days all doors are locked, and no incidents occur. However, according to the unlocked door report for August, the day before the laptops were taken, one Union door stayed open.

The custodians are in charge of locking campus building doors, Vessar said. "And [Public Safety] does a check at night."

Although the doors are double-checked, some still remain open. The Martin building had eight doors left open twice in August, according to the unlocked/open door report for that month.

Donald Miller of the University Store points out the room where his co-workers first noticed the laptops were missing. The sign on the door reads 123 Meeting Room, but as Al Lantorno, assistant director of Union programs and services explains, "It's a temporary area for book storage."

The room is currently housing many items. Miller said the double doors of room 123 also stay locked, so someone must have a key to enter. Once the person had the laptops in their possession, an exit on the West side of the building would make for a quick and easy escape.

Vessar estimates a time frame in which he believes the act took place. He said the laptops must have been taken between 3:30 p. m. Aug. 14 and 8:30 a.m. the next day. He said there is a suspect at this time, but he will not release a name or any information. Vessar said that if convicted, he/she will face class C felony charges.

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