CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM ROOMS AT STANFORD UNIVERSITYThe Stanford Daily Online EditionUnlocked doors lead to weekend thefts

By Katie Bearman
Contributing Writer
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
last updated January 18, 2005 12:15 AM

As winter quarter rolls on and freshmen become more accustomed to dorm life, many grow less concerned with keeping their doors locked.
But after a number of expensive items were stolen at Alondra on Friday, residents may want to reconsider their lax attitudes toward security.

Sometime between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., two laptop computers, an undisclosed amount of cash and various articles of clothing were stolen from student rooms in the East Florence Moore residence.

According to Sergeant Tim Hanrahan of the Stanford Police Department, the rooms from which the items were taken are particularly vulnerable to theft because they are near an exit that opens onto Mayfield Avenue. At the time of the robbery, the room doors and the door leading outside were all propped open.

“Stanford is a relatively safe place, but these things do happen,” Hanrahan said. “11 p.m. to 1 a.m. is the primary party time and a common time for such incidents to occur.”

“Even though it’s important to lock doors, people are starting to be careless about it,” said senior Renee Hudson, a resident assistant in Loro, another dorm in FloMo.

Staff members in Alondra filed a police report and sent an e-mail to the dorm list about the robbery, but RA Brian Salomaki said that they are not doing much else to attempt to prevent future thefts.

“It happened, and there’s not really much else to say,” Salomaki said.

“I feel sorry for the students whose stuff got stolen, but there’s nothing you can really do,” added freshman Donna Meng.

Hanrahan said that dorm thieves can be very difficult to catch.

“It’s hard, because there is very little evidence left over,” Hanrahan said. “Because there is no forced entry, there aren’t finger prints or anything. We don’t catch people as often as we’d like.”

Hanrahan said, however, that the Stanford Police Department arrested thieves and recovered stolen property a few weeks ago. He attributes the success in apprehending these criminals to students who reported suspicious activity to Stanford officers.

“We’re really dependent on students for these leads,” Hanrahan said.

In the meantime, Sergeant Hanrahan and the FloMo resident assistants advise Stanford students to use common sense.

“Keep doors locked, especially during party times, even though it’s inconvenient,” Hanrahan said.