Wadham College has been hit by a spate of thefts this week, with over £1,000 worth of goods stolen from students.
One finalist had his camera, mp3 player and sunglasses taken from his room on the 28th of January.
The door to his first floor room was locked, leading police to conclude that the thief must have entered through an unlatched window, accessible from a nearby ledge.
But he said that the burglar had only taken items from one particular drawer, leaving him puzzled and unaware of the theft for some time.
He said, “they left the rest of the room completely untouched and there were no signs that anyone had been in there.
“I reported it to the college and one of porters called me later to check on details but apart from that I haven’t heard anything.”
He was critical of college security, suggesting that, “a little bit of maintenance needs to be done” to improve it.
A second year English student had her mobile stolen on 29th January. She said, “I spoke to the Dean, the porters and the police. The Dean was at first rather blasé, saying these things happen and students have to look after their property.
“The head porter called me into his office yesterday though, sat me down, and wrote down a statement from me, word for word. It took bloody ages but it was worth it. It was automatically sent to the police for me.”
Another student, Victoria Lupton, had her laptop stolen from the college library at lunchtime on 26th January.
She admitted that people could be careless when leaving equipment around college saying, “people in Wadham are very lax about their possessions because everyone’s so trusting.
“You have to use a Bod card to get into the library and there’s a lot of people around so people are happy to leave their laptops there. But it’s really easy to get into the college and the library by following someone.”
She suggested that attitudes were changing but criticised the official response to her theft, “people are getting a lot more conscious about security, especially with their laptops. But the police weren’t very proactive; they didn’t even come and talk to me about it.”
The college librarian has since sent an email to all students warning them not to leave their laptops unattended.
The second year added, “the library staff now go round the library at regular intervals and note unattended laptops. They found nine the other day and put notes on them to warn the owners not to leave them. They are also investigating other ways to keep them safe.”
Another student had her laptop and digital camera stolen from her room on the evening of the 1st of February.
The student in question had left her room door unlocked and return to find her possessions had vanished.
One first year linguist suggested that members of Wadham were too trusting, “people will often hold the door open for people they don’t know. The other day I gave a
staircase code to someone I’d never met before – they looked like a student but
in retrospect it was a silly thing to do.
Wadham is a large college with lots of students living out, so it’s impossible to be able to recognise everyone. You don’t want to shut the door in someone’s face because it’s rude and they almost certainly have the right to be there – but sometimes they don’t.”
The second year stressed the need for caution, “everyone thinks we are in a nice little bubble but we are in the middle of the city with a high crime rate. Anyone can walk into college.”
Thames Valley Police are cooperating with college authorities as part of their investigation. But they urged students to stay aware of dangers, lock doors and windows and be vigilant on behalf of others.
College authorities are studying CCTV footage in the hope of identifying the burglars. The police are also investigating the incidents.
The college declined to comment on the burglaries or their security arrangements.
