Seven of the 10 laptops were stolen from residence halls, two from academic and administrative buildings and one from a vehicle.
In most cases this year, students reported that they had left their door unlocked in their residence hall for a short time, during which the theft occurred, Inspector Kevin O'Connor told The Herald. In none of the stolen-laptop cases this semester has the department found evidence of forced entry.
Damage to the door and door frame was reported in a Sept. 3 incident at Olney House. However, the damage was not substantial, O'Connor said, and while it may be evidence of an attempted break-in, it was not the level of force required to force entry into a room. The damage reported in that case also "wasn't consistent with the other thefts," Detective Mark Edmonds, a campus police officer, told The Herald. Edmonds and O'Connor are part of DPS's investigations unit.
The department currently has no leads in any of the cases, according to O'Connor. He also said DPS has "no reason to believe that there is any outside criminal activity that is influx. ... We believe it's more an internal matter."
O'Connor and Edmonds suggested the rash of thefts was likely the result of student-on-student criminal activity. DPS has been in contact with the Providence Police Department about the crimes, but O'Connor said the Providence Police were not aware of any increase in laptop thefts in the area.
The investigations unit at DPS has found other laptops stolen from students by students in the past. Last year, it recovered one laptop stolen in this manner and was able to resolve the matter without criminal charges, O'Connor said.
The detectives work with officials at Computing and Information Services to try to track stolen computers on Brown's network by IP addresses and ethernet IDs. Edmonds recommends that community members document their computer's IP address, Ethernet ID and serial number, all of which make tracking and recovery more likely.
He also stressed the importance of timely reporting. "Students wait thinking it will show up," he said, instead of reporting crimes immediately. A two-to-three day wait in reporting can allow a thief to access the computer's system, clean it out and resell it before police tracking even begins, Edmonds said.
Students who want extra security for their property should consider using CyberAngel, Edmonds said. CyberAngel is software that allows police to track stolen computers. Connie Sadler, director of information technology security at CIS, said CyberAngel can now be purchased for a discount at the Brown Computer Store by students, faculty and staff, but only for Windows.
"There is nothing comparable available for Macs that is in the same price range," Sadler said. Through Brown, Cyberangel costs about $80 for a five-year license that is fully transferable.
"We'd like to make it mandatory, but it's not - we're not there yet," Sadler said.
The residence halls where the thefts occurred include Vartan Gregorian Quadrangle A, three houses in Keeney Quadrangle and Olney House on Wriston Quadrangle. The two incidents occurring in academic and administrative buildings occurred during the weekend of Sept. 15 and 16 at 68 1/2 and 70 Brown St.
DPS is investigating the incidents in the academic and administrative buildings by looking at those who have access to the building and checking card-access records, but its focus right now is the residential investigations.
The residential halls are students' homes, O'Connor said. "My top priority is making someone feel safe there."
Kathryn Wiseman '11, a first-year in Poland House, where one of the thefts occurred, said she doesn't feel totally secure. "Ideally, people should be able to leave their doors open, but there are people out there who would do this," she said.
Wiseman added that all Poland rooms have self-locking doors, so students just have to remember to pull them shut when they leave a room.
Students not locking their doors when leaving is a major concern for DPS. "We really encourage everyone to lock their rooms - no matter what the time period is," O'Connor said.
Porter expressed concern over the high number of incidents and said the department is "doing additional crime awareness information in those areas."
