A few weeks ago, first-year Jack Ries was working at a women’s basketball tournament at Sexton Arena. When he returned to his room that night, his laptop was gone.

“We didn’t lock our door, so that was a big part of it,” Ries said. “I guess I was kind of surprised it happened. Maybe I had it coming for leaving my door unlocked, but at the same time it’s shocking.”

When it comes to on-campus security, most students don’t think about it until it affects them.

But students have reason to keep security in mind — especially this week.

“(St. John’s) experiences more theft before breaks,” director of Life Safety Shawn Vierzba said.

Keeping residence areas locked is one deterrent of theft on campus. While some students might bemoan the on-campus “visiting hours” — before midnight on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends — other schools have even stricter policies.

At the University of St. Thomas, guests must sign a logbook at the front desk and show an ID to a night access attendant before being escorted by a resident host anytime after 8 p.m. There are even hours at night when their students have to show their IDs to a night access attendant — this is in addition to an electronic card access system.

“(We have night access) to provide an additional measure of safety for the building,” St. Thomas Manager of Security Mike Barrett said. “The night access attendants are an additional set of eyes and ears for us.

“We get lots of phone calls from them, ranging from a guy breaking in to a guy puking on the floor, whereas the average student wouldn’t call us about that stuff.”

Jim Schumann, the director of St. Ben’s Security, doesn’t find night attendants as useful.

“When you staff that, you’re only as secure as the person working at the desk,” he said. “Someone at the front door is more a deterrent.”

There was actually a time when Bennies had to escort Johnnies into residence halls.

Jody Terhaar, the current CSB dean of students, was the director of residential life in the late 90s when this policy was put in place.

“It had a lot of flaws,” she said. “Restrictions changed because CSB and SJU students are respectful of our facilities. The policy was

sending the wrong message about the culture of our community. It is
for students to feel equally welcome on both campuses,” she said.

“You have to have student support for security and we have good balance for this at this time,” Terhaar said. Nonetheless, both Schumann and Terhaar agree that security is a lot looser at CSB/SJU than elsewhere.

“Our general population is very trusting and helpful,” Schumann said.

St. Ben’s and St. John’s rural location influences the amount of security precautions taken, Schumann said. If our schools were located in the inner city, there would be different precautions.

The general culture of CSB/SJU also makes a difference. The hospitable nature of the Benedictine tradition means we are more open to guests, we offer a free transportation system and we leave our dining halls open to people outside of the college community.

“Things are not screwed down quite as tight,” Schumann said.

But our location doesn’t make us immune to crime, Vierzba said. “Just because we’re in the country doesn’t mean we should be any less vigilant about our safety,” Vierzba said.

He thinks both St. John’s Life Safety and St. Ben’s Security take safety a step further than a municipal police department is able to. “Our job is to protect people, property and, most of all assist in keeping this community safe,” Vierzba said.

In order to keep the community safe, Schumann uses some valuable pieces of technology. His department has purchased a number of security cameras ranging from $200 to $229. Already since they were installed, two crimes were caught on video. The vandals who emptied the fire extinguisher in the bathroom in Gorecki ended up turning themselves in before security had to identify them using the cameras. That wasn’t the case with the male who broke into the Main Building last month. The tape is still being looked at by the police department, but Schumann is confident that someone will know the person from the video.

“Prices (on security cameras) have come down so low; it’s very cost effective to do it now,” Schumann said.

Vierzba thinks more theft takes place than what students report. But since the dorms at St. John’s have started being secured at night, he said less theft has occurred.

“Keep an eye on your stuff. It takes less than thirty seconds for someone to steal any of the things in your room,” Vierzba said. It’s also important for students to know the serial numbers of their laptops and iPods. Students should put some sort of identification, even if it is their names written in permanent marker, on all expensive belongings.

“Identification puts you light years ahead of the game,” Vierzba said.

Schumann said theft is the largest crime at St. Ben’s. He thinks on-campus theft is simply a crime of opportunity.

“Know where you’re at, and keep your stuff locked up. We’re at a pretty safe place, but you’re still around 4,000 people or so that you don’t really know,” Schumann said.