By Joo Eun Kim

Assistant News Editor

As spring rolls around, squirrels are not the only ones scrambling across campus--car burglars are roaming around the campus parking lots as well. Since March, dozens of vehicles have suffered from vandalism. Students have encountered missing license plates, egged cars, smashed windows, flattened tires, missing valuables and even missing cars during the months of March and April. Students feel that Campus Safety should do more to prevent crimes, and Campus Safety, too, is striving for extra precautions on campus.

During the last two months, two vehicles had their license plates stolen, two vehicles had their tires flattened, 35 vehicles were struck with eggs, nine vehicles had their windows smashed out and some had valuables removed.

Moreover, two vehicles were stolen, although one was later recovered.

According to Gerald Steele, director of Campus Safety, the recent surge in the number of car vandalisms and break-ins is not unique to Calvin. During the months of March, April, May, and June, the city of Grand Rapids experiences significantly higher number of car vandalisms than in other months. ``When the weather breaks, they start breaking in and cars in every city,'' he said.

Although the high number of car vandalisms is alarming, Steele says that car vandalism ``doesn't change significantly from year to year.'' Last year, there were 48 break-ins, and two years ago, there were about 50. In the city of Grand Rapids, car vandalisms have been on the rise for five years.

``It all depends on demands on the street,'' said Steele, referring to stolen items. ``We have to be more aware now than five years ago.''

Kathy Harris, a senior at Calvin whose car was stolen, questioned the decision of the administration for having only one patrol car during the nighttime hours. ``The campus safety officer told me that they only have one person patrolling [the parking lots] during nighttime hours. There are two sides to the campus. Two people being on duty would have helped,'' she said.

Steele said that Campus Safety officers are doing the best they can under the circumstances. Campus Safety has two patrols at night--one on foot and one in a vehicle. The officer on foot checks the interior of the campus, while the other checks the exterior, such as the parking lots. ``We tell the exterior officer to concentrate on parking lots,'' Steele said.

A given patrol officer checks a parking lot every 15 to 20 minutes, according to Steele. Although he wishes there were more patrol officers, students would have to pay more to increase patrol officers.

What Campus Safety is doing in response is increasing the number of patrols.

Steele says that they ``increase patrols as much as [they] can.'' They patrol in irregular patterns, but that could be useless if criminals had a person watching out for patrol cars, while the others break into a vehicle.

As a former deputy-in-chief of the Grand Rapids Police Department, Steele knows about the nature of car burglars.

``[Car vandalism] is not a crime that takes a lot of time,'' he said. Steele said that it takes approximately 30 seconds to break into a car. He knew of twelve-year-old children who could break a lock on the car and steal a stereo system in less than 15 seconds. Steele stressed the difficulty of catching the criminals in the act, as they could be hiding behind the cars and working with someone who alerts them when a patrol officer comes around.

Steele said that it is rare to have cars stolen on campus--even more rare when they are not found.

On Wednesday night at 10 p.m., Harris parked her car in the Theta/Epsilon Parking lot. The next morning, on Thursday, March 28, on her way to class, she noticed her car was missing. She searched for a while but could not find it. Then she noticed a Campus Safety officer talking with a Seminarian. The seminarian's car had been broken into, and parked elsewhere by the burglar. To Harris's amazement, the seminarian student's car was the same model as hers: a Toyota Camry.

``I read that my car was the most stolen car in America just a week before,'' she said. She had just glanced at the rating of most stolen cars that she found online, and her '89 Toyota Camry was number one on the list.

Steele's assumption was that the burglar was in the process of stealing the seminarian's car when he or she saw Harris's and liked hers better. He said that parts out of Harris's car are more expensive than the car itself.

Harris said she lost more than just the car. Her education portfolio -a two year project--had been in the car. ``That's the most devastating point,'' she said.

When asked about Campus Safety, Harris said, ``They were really good with responding to the situation,'' she said.

Steele said that Campus Safety ``strongly advises students to report [crimes] to the police'' and help with the follow-up process.

However, Harris expressed her hope for better precaution on campus. She said, ``Not one of them were caught in act. ``It's naive to think these things will not happen. The college has to realize that Calvin is a part of Grand Rapids. We are not a gated community,'' she said.

Steele said that there have been attempts to prevent car vandalism. He had sent out a survey about gated parking lots, but these would have a substantial cost, because fences and gates would have to be built. He also looked into the possibility of closing the East Beltline parking lots that were attracting the most thefts. However, as the college underwent construction, the parking lots were needed. He said that once the new parking lots by the new CAS building are finished, Campus Safety will consider closing the East Beltline parking lots.

The East Beltline parking lots have become targets because they are ``quick-on and quick-off.'' Most of the burglars are outsiders, according to Steele, and they hit the parking lots mostly between 2 and 4 a.m.

``There is an insatiable demand for good car stereos,'' he said. Burglars target expensive stereo systems and cell phones. ``It may not be a good idea to have an expensive stereo system,'' Steele advised.

Another precaution Steele and Campus Safety want to take is the installation of video cameras in the parking lots. ``It has been my hope for five years to put video cameras in two major parking lots,'' he said. However, the cost is substantial. Steele hopes for video cameras to be installed in the KH parking lot, the East Beltline parking lot and the 560-car lot at the new CAS building. With video cameras installed, the parking lots could be monitored by Campus Safety to better protect the vehicles.