Safety Services warns against theft
By JJ Ossola
IV Leader Staff, May 5, 2005
In the past few weeks, there have been enough incidents of theft at the gym to warrant a slew of “Alert” signs in the locker rooms.
“This has been a good school year for a college of this size, but there have been a few incidents of theft,” Ken Sangston, director of safety services, said. “This seems to happen every year in the last few weeks before the end of school. Last year there were about three reports of theft of about $20 to $30, and this year there are about four.”
“Students have brought us cell phones, wallets, purses, book bags, and other items and we have had great success in returning them to their owners. If a student finds that they are missing something, we encourage them to report it as soon as they can. Dates and times are especially important, so that we can get an idea of where to start reviewing tapes. The student should also be sure to check the lost and found often,” Sangston said.
Jessica Cinnamon, a student aide in the athletic department and pitcher for the women’s softball team, said that she had left her purse in a zipped bag on a shelf, while the softball team practiced in the gym.
Cinnamon said, “It wasn’t until later when I went to pay for something at Hy-Vee that I realized the money was gone. I picked up my billfold and thought to myself that it seemed really light because I keep a bunch of change in there for laundry and stuff.
“Only the money and change were taken. My IDs, debit cards, and everything else was still in my billfold, but it was over $50 that was taken,” she added.
Baseball players have reported that some of their things, money, books, and personal items had gone missing in the past few weeks.
Sangston offered this advice to students: “Don’t leave your books or bags out of your line of sight, especially when book buy-back begins on May 9. If something does happen, come to us and fill out an incident report and we will try to resolve it as quickly as possible.”