WASHINGTON  COMPUTER SECURITY  http://www.ocolympian.com/news/7-000-in-equipment-stolen-1.2181345

The Olympian > News

$7,000 in equipment stolen

By Thomas James

Contributing Staff

Published: Monday, April 18, 2011

Updated: Monday, April 18, 2011 12:04

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The Olympian / Josh Nothnagle

Angelique White, BSC front desk clerk, staffs the Student ID desk Friday. A valuable printer and camera were stolen from this area the weekend of April 9 and 10. According to security, it was never properly secured.

A valuable identification card printer and camera were stolen from the Bremer Student Center the weekend of April 9 and 10, potentially costing the already-strapped college thousands of dollars and temporarily depriving new students of the ability to obtain a school ID card.

Debra Montez, program coordinator for the BSC, said she suspects the thieves used an adjacent side-door to slip out with the bulky equipment. By state fire codes, most exit doors must be able to be opened from the inside even when locked. This could have been exploited for easy access to a small parking lot between the BSC and the Physical Education Building, Montez said.

Montez said the theft is suspected to have occurred sometime late Sunday. A basketball clinic kept the BSC open until 8 p.m. Sunday, giving clinic-goers and others access to the unattended ID desk.

A substitute printer normally used to print faculty and staff ID cards was borrowed from the Campus Operations Department, but Information Technology staff were still working Thursday to set up the new machine.

Until it comes online, Montez said students might substitute any photo ID along with a copy of their current schedule to access student services such as the Fitness Center.

Jes Shriver, IT Technician, said he expects the substitute printer to be up and running "by the end of the week, if not sooner."

While nearby OASIS computers are physically locked in place, and have been since at least last year, Montez said, the stolen equipment, which included a camera on a freestanding tripod, was never secured.

Shriver said prior to the theft he was not aware the equipment was unsecured.

The stolen equipment cost approximately $7,000 when purchased four years ago, said Montez. Even though the equipment is now dated, Montez said it would probably cost close to $4,000 to replace.

At the earliest, Montez said, a new printer and camera would not be purchased until after July 1.

Although Olympic College continues to add new video cameras, with nine slated to go into the bookstore soon, the back of the BSC and the adjacent parking lot are currently covered only by OC Security foot patrols.

OC Security Sgt. Tim Hewitt said he thought the theft of the bulky printer wasn't an impulsive crime.

"Somebody had their eye on it," Hewitt said.

Herman Smith, an OC security officer, recalled a strikingly similar occurrence last fall. At that time, during a basketball game, a camera belonging to an OC staff member disappeared from a desk immediately adjacent to the ID camera. It was later recovered, but Smith, who was patrolling the area at the time, said it highlighted to him the vulnerability of unsecured equipment there.

On another patrol through the area, Smith said he removed the ID card camera, the same camera now stolen, and placed it in the security office.

The next day, Smith said, he returned the camera, and told an OC staff member working at the ID desk they should begin securing it, or "sooner or later, someone was gonna take it."

Ron Simmons, another officer with campus security, said there are currently no suspects, and the theft had been reported to the Bremerton Police.