Multiple Students Victims of Theft
Multiple burglaries were reported to Public Safety over the last month. One involved a vehicle theft and the others involved the theft of personal items from dorm rooms in Nichols Hall.
These crimes reportedly occurred when doors or windows were left unsecured.
The vehicle, a 1980 Oldsmobile Delta 88, was taken from Turner Hall late at night on March 31 and was found near campus. According to Director of Public Safety Steve Chatterton, the Pocatello Police Department investigated the situation and took evidence from the vehicle with the intention of forensically testing it but he does not know if results have come back or if there are any suspects or leads in the case.
An email was sent to students from Public Safety notifying them of the situation.
In addition, sometime between March 31 and April 8 personal items were reportedly stolen from two residents’ dorm rooms in Nichols Hall. The stolen items in the first room included a Nikon camera and detachable lens, a Casio camera and Beats audio headphones. Public Safety reports the room was entered through an unlocked window.
The second dorm room had a PlayStation 3 game console and controller and a PlayStation 3 Major League Baseball game taken. This room was reportedly entered through an unlocked door, according to Public Safety.
An email was sent out to students notifying them of these situations as well.
There are no suspects at this time and the burglaries in Nichols Hall remain under investigation by the Pocatello Police Department.
In the email, Public Safety advised students to always lock doors and windows and noted that adding a dowel to window tracks provides added security.
Chatterton echoed the email message and noted these crimes all occurred when doors and windows weren’t secured. He said the best safety advice he could provide for students was to secure their dorms, vehicles and belongings.
Chatterton explained Public Safety regularly does regular patrols that include walk-throughs of residence halls and they are constantly working to improve and upgrade their crime prevention abilities. Chatterton noted steps like upgrading cameras and increasing patrols.
When asked about crime rates on campus, Chatterton expressed he felt it was “uncommon.”
“We’ve got a lot of foolishness that goes on [on campus],” said Chatterton.
When asked what he meant by foolishness, Chatterton explained he meant minor situations involving things like kids pranking each other, music being too loud, arguments or skateboarding on campus.
Public Safety is reportedly working with the housing complexes and residence halls to schedule meetings about prevention with student residents.
Public Safety has dispatchers and personnel available to deal with situations 24 hours a day.
The dispatch center of Public Safety monitors the more than 500 cameras constantly running on campus both indoors and out. Public Safety has the ability to go back and look at past occurrences for up to six months.
“If students feel something doesn’t look right, doesn’t feel right, call us and we can come check it out,” said Chatterton.
If you have any information on these crimes or have concerns of your own, Public Safety can be reached 24/7 at (208) 282-2515.
