If you witness theft in dining halls, notify staff and/or UPD. You can also report a crime through Silent Witness, a web-based program that allows individuals to anonymously report information about criminal activity on campus.
Although dining has signs posted warning about plainclothes policemen and cameras in the halls, dining services says there are still theft issues.
Karen Adkins, interim director of dining, said dining services takes theft very seriously.
“We do our best to prevent students from taking items, but we know that it does occur," Adkins said.
There are not any dining halls that have more theft occur than another, but she said she typically sees common articles being stolen.
“Food items that can easily be slipped into a pocket of a backpack, like grab 'n go items, are the items that dining sees stolen the most,” Adkins said.
Dining services trains staff to watch for theft, she said.
“We ask our cashiers and employees working in the servery to watch for customers that might be putting items in their pockets or backpacks,” Adkins said. “If they see this, we ask that they alert management so that we can contact University Police.”
Once the University Police Department is contacted, the responding officer meets with the caller of the report and any involved parties to investigate the incident and determine what occurred, said UPD Chief Jim Duckham.
Students found stealing from dining can face serious consequences, including being criminally charged or referred to the Office of Student Rights and Community Standards.
Under Indiana law, a person commits theft when he or she "knowingly or intentionally" exerts "unauthorized control" over another person's property with the intent to deprive the other person of the value or use of the property, according to criminaldefenselawyer.com.
Prosecutors in Indiana have the discretion to charge most theft-related offenses as either a Class A misdemeanor or a Class D felony.
A Class A Misdemeanor is the most serious type of misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000, according to criminaldefenselawyer.com. Class D felonies are punishable by at least six months in jail or as much as three years in prison as well as a fine of up to $10,000.
While both dining services and UPD confirm theft does happen, the records system utilized by the UPD does not maintain records on the amounts of reports of theft and money lost per year due to theft in dining halls. Because of this, they were not able to give records to the Daily News when asked.
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