IUPD continues usual patrols over holiday breaks

The IU Police Department will continue to work in full force to protect the campus even after students travel home for an upcoming three-week break. \nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said a drop in the number of people on campus is not a reason to scale-back on officers since the same amount of area still needs to be monitored. During winter break, IUPD does not utilize part-time officers in residence halls, but the number of full-time officers patrolling the campus remains the same. \n“We’ve always got along well with the officers we have,” IUPD officer Marty East said. “I think everyone is always concerned about the potential catastrophe that could occur. I know I am always worried that the big one could happen and not enough people would be here. We have an advantage because we’re close to Bloomington and we work together with their police contingencies.” \nWhile school is in session, IUPD officers tend to spend more time dealing with illegal consumption, noise and petty theft, all problems that arise when a large group of people occupy an area, Minger said. During break, however, officers are on a continuous patrol of campus to protect the empty properties. \nAccording to IUPD police reports from 2006, the week before winter break yielded 73 incident reports. This number dropped to 38 during the first week of break. \nThe biggest change East recognizes is the drop in the number of people on campus. As a result, officers switch from policing people to policing property. \n“Thirty thousand people just vanish,” East said. “Plus everybody in Bloomington knows that the fraternities and sororities are going to be empty so it’s an easy ticket for them to break in.” \nEast, who has worked for IUPD for almost 25 years, said sororities and fraternities give IUPD information about what cars will be parked at the houses so the police can better protect the property. In recent years, however, few houses have participated. \n“We spend more time patrolling when people aren’t on campus then when school is actually in session because usually we are dealing with actual people,” East said. “Over break it’s more of a continuous cruise, but we don’t want to set up any patterns and we’re conscious of that.”\nMost of the break-in problems occur at sororities and fraternities, not classrooms, East said. While technology was once a target, computer clusters now have security that alerts IUPD if computers are tampered with. \nThe best way for students to prevent theft over break is to take expensive items home. East also suggests securing televisions, stereo equipment and laptops. \n“Most expensive things are small like laptops, iPods and jewelry,” East said. “I’d rather see it at home or locked up in a trunk and out of sight. Out of sight, out of mind.”