All locks in Valentine and deKiewiet towers were replaced after a master key ring was stolen from the service desk area in Valentine Monday.
Rochester Management staff discovered at 3:30 p.m. Monday that someone had forcibly pried open a secured key box located in the service desk. A Resident Advisor going off duty had entered the area and secured a master key ring to deKiewiet and Valentine in the key box between 10 and 11 a.m.
“There were no signs of forced entry into the service desk area itself, only to the key box,” Security Investigator Dan Lafferty said.
It was reported at about 2 p.m. that a laptop computer was stolen from an apartment in deKiewiet.
“The response of GLC residents varies from being slightly agitated to paranoid,” said senior and Graduate Living Center resident Andrew Kwon.
“From the reports I’ve been hearing, I would say that students feel concerned about the situation and want to see the locks changed quickly,” Assistant Director of Residential Life Services Brian Fleming said.
“I just hope they choose the replacement option for the rest of the building that’s the safest, not just the cheapest,” said junior and GLC resident John Mazzello.
Though security and ResLife have pursued the issue strenuously, it will take some time for Roch-ester Management Incorporated to complete the process with Best Lock Company.
“I was impressed at the response time they had in keeping the situation under control,” said junior and GLC resident David Weissler. “As soon as they found out the master key was stolen, they sent student aides who handed out fliers to inform us of the incident. They also had extra people on watch that night. I thought it was good that they informed the GLC community almost immediately, instead of allowing us find out on the next Campus Times security update page.”
Fleming said ResLife would try to keep the information flowing. “We haven’t had too much additional information to offer students since Monday morning, but we promised to keep them updated on any progress,” Fleming said.
Additional security staff has been placed in the area providing additional coverage. Residents in both buildings are encouraged to report any persons in the area acting in a suspicious manner or who seem to be hanging around the area without a purpose.
Moreover, residents are also encouraged not to allow persons they do not know into the apartment buildings.
Locks on the apartment entry doors will be changed first. Any student whose lock has been changed will need to come to the Service Desk with his or her UR ID to receive the new key. They will need to retain the old key, which will open the locks to their individual rooms until the maintenance crew comes again to change those locks.
Lafferty and Fleming both said that the case is being investigated.
“This tells me how vulnerable and susceptible our whole community is to crime,” Weissler said. “I would much rather see security have a prepared plan in setting up defense mechanisms to ensure the safety on campus. However, I do not think that there is a way for security to prevent this from happening again in the future.”
Lam can be reached at llam@campustimes.org.
