How safe is your neighborhood?

By Megan O'Connor

Elyse Shelger awoke to the sound of a cell phone camera clicking in her bedroom.

A male prowler had entered the student's house on the 700 block of Bellomy Street, a block off campus, in the early morning hours of July 21. He came in through a side door which had been left open and used his cell phone to take pictures of Shelger while she slept.

"We don't have air conditioning and it was just so hot," Shelger said. "I woke up at 5:30 in the morning and I decided to open up the back door."

The door wasn't visible from the street, Shelger said.

"I woke up to this clicking noise and there was a man, about 30 years old, standing above me. He was right there, standing above my head," said Shelger. "I just started screaming and he ran away in a split second."

She then called 911 from her bed and police responded, but did not find the prowler.

In attempt to create ventilation during the hot nights, many residents left their windows and doors open this summer, giving easy access to thieves or prowlers.

Santa Clara is generally considered a safe place by most students and university officials. However, despite the university's relative safety, the area around campus was the most burglarized in the city of Santa Clara between the months of January and June of 2006, according to a map created by Santa Clara police.

Within a half-mile radius of campus, there were 18 residential burglaries during the six month period. A burglary consists of someone illegaly entering a house and stealing property.

Lt. Jim Buchanan, a police spokesman, said that while there is no "crime spree" around campus, students who are constantly moving in and out of homes can make easier targets for burglars.

"When we have a large mobile population, who don't pay attention and don't know their neighbors, people can take advantage of that," Buchanan said. "The best eyes and ears the PD has is those who know what's correct and not correct in an area."

Two days after the incident on Bellomy Street, Jeanne Rosenberger, vice provost for student life, sent out a campus-wide e-mail cautioning students about the prowler.

"We are generally safe, but we have to get the message out: be diligent about your safety," Rosenberger said.

On July 30, The New York Times published a survey conducted by the American Association of University Professors stating that only 7 percent of Americans consider crime on campus to be the top problem on college campuses.

Students did not even consider crime among the top 10 problems.

"I don't think any students really lock their doors," said Shelger. "I could go into any of my friend's houses at anytime and just walk right in. I know most students feel comfortable and safe and leave their doors open."

Shelger said she and her roommates are going to keep their doors locked, in addition to having their landlord install safety screens on all of their windows. "It not as safe as we think," said Shelger.

Even after hearing about their neighbor's experience with a prowler, students living next door to Shelger admitted they didn't start locking their doors.

Senior Darsie Lairon, who lives adjacent to Shelger, said her housemates did not change their personal safety behavior after hearing of the incident.

"We keep our door unlocked during the day because we are all so in and out and someone is usually home," Lairon said.

A student house located on the 500 block of Lafayette Street, nicknamed "Yellow," was robbed in early July after a window on the side of the house was left unlocked, according to senior and resident Brendan Duda.

The robber tore the screen off the window frame and entered into a student's room. Duda said two laptop computers were stolen.

He said he saw trespassers on the property on three separate occasions after the robbery, but a police report was not filed. Prior to the robbery, Duda said, he and his housemates would leave the front door open from time to time.

"We lock our front door all the time now," said Duda. "I know a lot of people just leave their stuff open until they get robbed. They feel they are pretty safe."

Living on campus doesn't guarantee students their safety, either.

On April 22, junior Cristina Tazza called Campus Safety after a suspicious-looking man attempted to follow her into Swig Residence Hall.

After entering the street side of Swig, Tazza shut the door just before a man could enter the building behind her.

"As the last person in my group walked in we grabbed the door closed and he pulled to the bar trying to get in," Tazza said. "You could tell he wasn't supposed to be there."

When Campus Safety arrived, they found the man trying to enter Dunne Hall, Tazza said. After questioning him, they asked him to stay away from campus. Ultimately, Tazza said she decided to call Campus Safety to set an example to counter "the assumed ignorance that other people have about letting people into the dorms."

The Swig door which leads to Market Street has been changed this year so that residents cannot enter the building through it. According to Swig Resident Director David Machado, the change is intended to provide extra security by making students walk past the front desk.

Tazza said Swig residents are known to let other people into the building who are waiting by the door. With so many residents in Swig students feel comfortable letting in unfamiliar faces into the building.

"It's really unsafe," Tazza said.

Dunne community facilitator Chris Lee agreed that "people tailgate and follow people into dorms."

Rosenberger said students' instincts to be polite and hold doors open to residence halls for others can even be an unsafe act, and an opportunity to let someone who does not belong inside.

During the 2005-2006 school year, Lee said he often noticed non-students entering Dunne looking for a party. So far this year, Lee said, there hasn't been much change.

Lee said he and other CFs also noticed the tendency for students to leave their doors unlocked. "We frequently mentioned the importance of locking your door and taking responsibility for your community," said Lee.

Despite constant reminders from CFs, sophomore Rachel Manfre didn't lock her door through most of the year.

"I almost always left my door unlocked in Sanfilippo last year," Manfre said. "People were always in and out of our room, even when we weren't there."

Manfre said, "the atmosphere and the fact that everyone on the floor was good friends" gave her a sense of security in the dorms. "You don't expect anyone on your floor to steal your stuff," she said.

She added, however, that "after hearing about computers and stuff getting stolen during third quarter, we decided it would probably be good to lock the door."

Phil Beltran, Campus Safety assistant director said, "when you compare us with other universities, we have a very safe environment." He added, "It's the people you draw to you that cause the risk."

From July 4, 2005, to June 26, 2006, there were 56 thefts -- ranging from petty theft to burglary -- reported to Santa Clara police, according to Buchanan. There was also one prowler, one instance of stalking and one of trespassing reported in the same time frame.

Rosenberger said students' lax attitude toward personal safety derives from their feeling that Santa Clara is a safe space.

However, "Students should not assume it is never going to happen to them," Rosenberger said.

Contact Megan O'Connor at (408) 554-4546 or moconnor@scu.edu.