Thursday, November 27th 2008

By selma al-samarrai

     Since the beginning of this school year, a reported average of three laptops a week have been stolen on campus. McMaster University has recently created the STOP program, which features STOPlocks that are specifically designed to prevent laptop theft. The STOPlock is composed of a metal serialized plate and a cable, which would wrap around a bar and then lock back on the top of the metal plate. The serialized plate is registered to the owner of the laptop and is glued onto the top of the laptop. The plate is very difficult to remove and the cable is almost impossible to cut, therefore ensuring theft prevention.

     If the individual committing the theft manages to remove the plate off the computer, a chemically bonded tattoo attached to the bottom of the plate would imprint on the laptop and identify it as a stolen item. The tattoo specifically says stolen and imprints a 1-800 number that will identify the owner of the laptop if the serial number is on the laptop. These two attributes consequently make it impossible to sell the laptop. Cathy O’Donnell, sergeant of security and parking services, explained how the registration of one’s information and the imprinted tattoo can also help return stolen laptops. “So for example you can say ‘hey my grey dell laptop got stolen.’ There are many grey dell laptops are on campus. How can we, 100 per cent identify that it’s yours. Especially if someone has cleaned out the motherboard and memory, there’s nothing in there to say it’s yours or for us to prove it’s yours. So if we know the serial number and it’s marked we can get it back to you.”

     O’Donnell explained that usually these thefts are a result of what she defines as, “crimes of opportunity” meaning there aren’t individuals on campus who come for the sole reason of stealing unattended items, they are usually students who see an unattended item and figure it would be a good idea to take it. O’Donnell elaborated, “someone looks at [the unattended item] and says ‘Oh that’s a great crime of opportunity!’ No criminals come on campus and say ‘I’m going to steal laptops today!’ Instead they are just students who see it and say ‘that looks interesting, I might be able to sell that for 20 dollars, picking it up and walking away with it. They are totally crimes of opportunity. They aren’t these mass bandits who come on campus looking for specifically for laptops. Most of the time it’s our students. [Theft occurs] especially this time of year … they see many textbooks and laptops, which are very valuable … We do not [usually] have a problem with people breaking into offices and stealing equipment. They are right there in the open, they are just taking them.”

     O’Donnell also mentioned the pad locks that prevent theft during examinations. She explained that while students are required to focus on their exams, theft is also a likely occurrence and warrants some attention. O’Donnell elaborated, “We’ve installed a pack line in the Ivor Wynne Center. It is a line in the main gym area and is again a bar, and we have little locks. The locks have a little combination that are inexpensive and they run through your backpack and around the bar line and so no one can walk away with it unless they bought a tool. The only individuals who can put their backpacks in that area are people with laptops.”

     The STOPlocks used to prevent theft vary in price and are sold on two locations on campus—Compass and at the vending machines located on the second floor of Mills library.

Tags: O’Donnell, STOPlocks, theft prevention