Crimes Spike On-Campus

Brittni Grunow

A spike in on-campus residence hall burglary has led to a groundswell of concern among MSU staff members.

According to MSU police, reports of burglary increased again, this time by 29 percent from 2005 to 2006.

Mahesh Nalla, Ph.D. professor and director of graduate studies of Criminal Justice, attributes the increase to the shifts in police patrols from on-campus to the East Lansing area.  He added that burglary rates moved into dormitories because the mass student population is less focused on safety.

“Increase in burglary is caused by displacement from the local community,” Nalla said.  “The burglaries and theft are from people from the outside, not necessarily students stealing in other student’s rooms.”

Chandos McCoy, resident hall manager of McDonel and Owen halls, disagrees with Nalla, stating that the increase in burglary stems from students’ trusting each other as co-students, with naivety at its core.  

“I used to manage the bookstore, and statistics that I read where college-age population, when asked the question ‘would you steal if you knew 100 percent you would get away with it,’ 60 percent said they would,” McCoy stated.

According to MSU police statistics, reported incidents of burglary in 2006 were 101.  This is a record high from their reported 2003 to 2005 levels of 62, 70 and 78 consecutively.  

Crimes of opportunity arise when students leave their doors unlocked while they sleep, leave their keys in the door, or leave their door open while they visit a friend down the hall for a while, McCoy said. 

“Is that an increase in theft, or an increase in ignorance, or both?” McCoy added.

Stacy Luther, an MSU physiology sophomore, was the victim of a recent burglary in her dorm.  Luther explained that when she lost her key, she was not sure whether she misplaced it or left it in the door, but a week later, her laptop was stolen.

“I knew I should have changed my locks when the front desk suggested it to secure my room just in case,” Luther said.

According to Nalla, awareness is the first step.

“Typically, if you want to raise your level of superiority to protect yourself, part of it is that all the residential members need to know through flyers, notices and e-mails, which is partly what is happening now,” Nalla suggested.

Lock-downs at certain times, 10 a.m. ID swiping as opposed to midnight, security cameras and a neighborhood watch are some of the things Nalla stated should be implemented to prevent further crime, adding that ID swiping to enter a floor that currently occurs in Emmons Hall should be installed in other residential halls as well.

According to former Emmons Hall resident, Lisa Bober, the ID swiping available there made her feel safer.

“For the most part, I felt like only people who lived on my floor came in, but sometimes there were people I had never seen before, but I just assumed it was someone’s friend hanging out,” Bober said.

McCoy disagrees, claiming that card swiping defeats security purposes because although it cuts down the casual person walking down your hallway, when students tape the door or prop it open to allow their friends entry, anyone can enter the building at their own will.

“Students have the ‘it’s not going to happen to me’ attitude,” McCoy said.  “They need to take accountability for their own safety and security.” 

McCoy added that awareness requires extensive exposure through e-mails, manager newsletters, ads in the paper, the Residence Halls Association (RHA) movie channel and posters.

“The average student must read something seven times before they pay attention to it, especially things that remind them of what their parents might say,” McCoy claimed.  “I have had students come up and say ‘well, I never read that,’ after seeing it posted in five different newsletters.”

To stop the increasing trend in on-campus residence hall burglary, McCoy and Nalla suggested students need to take action and be aware of the crime surrounding them, lock their doors and stop being so trusting with their peers.