<p>My son and daughter have never had anything stolen in college but they are paranoid about keeping their stuff with them. Their stuff is older gear too and replaceable. We take the approach on college similarly to travel. Take old stuff that you can afford to lose if there’s a chance that it could be stolen. Some of our son’s professors have had laptops stolen from their offices. It’s typically when they step out for a minute or two and don’t lock their offices. The buildings are public and unlocked and in poor neighorhoods so there are people that can go through buildings looking for unsecured things.</p>
<p>One thing that I recommend is to provide protection for the data on your devices. I use my devices for work and like to encrypt work stuff or set it up for getting wiped if stolen. The data on devices can be more valuable than the device itself.</p>
<p>To sseamom, I just realized my mistake and really dont want to make any more accusation. However, if you expect any answer to your questions. Here are the answers. There is a university police report crime logs that can be searched, it shows the building where the theft occurred. My sons case is in there. My son didnt even know that I had searched the logs, Im not sure he even realized the logs exist. I was the one that came up with that conclusion. As for how many people have key, there are many people have the key. I only stated that for the 5 months that my son was there, he only encountered 3 people that usually came through that door during the office hour. I was once a custodian myself in a university before, therefore, I know exactly how custodian work. The different is that the place was made safer when there were custodians around. Often, I was asked by professors and students to watch over their equipment that was setup in the classroom when they went out for dinner. I once had my book stolen in the library, I was told to sit in the area that had custodian as they were watch over my stuff</p>
<p>I got a message regarding deleting my post. However, when I clicked on it, it didn’t open up in a different window as it said. It disappeared from the screen saying something was blocked. Could you send it again?</p>
<p>To sseamom. Just to clarify the situation a bit, the university at which I worked as a custodian is usually larger than Rice. During my time over there, I had never heard of theft form any rooms that were locked. Yes, custodians do lurk around, but we served more as deterrence than a potential thief. We actually help keep the area safer. I have to admit that I did take and ate a few of the candies from the candy bowl in some of the professors’ office while doing the cleaning. I hope they didn’t mind.</p>
<p>Wait, you also happen to have been employed in the past as a university custodian? Really? Not only is this a rather surprising coincidence, but I would think you might have been more open to considering that maybe the cleaning staff person wasn’t as guilty as you suggest. Just a thought…</p>
<p>concernparent-I’m still mystified about why you KNOW how custodians work, that YOU were trustworthy, that you KNOW other people have keys and yet you’re so certain THIS custodian is a thief. Other than her being right there in the area, you have no proof at all. </p>
<p>NJ-I did not say every single person in jail is an innocent victim, but surely you know that there’s long been a history of lower income and minority people getting charged with crimes they did not commit and end up spending years in jail. Have you heard of the Innocense Project? Do you know about public defenders being way overworked and overburdened with cases?</p>
<p>To jmy626. Yes, I was a universitys custodian before. I have been trying my hardest to not accusing any of the custodian being a suspect. However, my experience also tells me how easy it is for an irresponsible custodian to steal valuable items from any unsuspected victim in the area they work. Since most of the students and professors in the area grew so used to the presence of a particular custodian, they normally failed to take the necessary precaution to safe guard their belongings when the custodian is around. Since she was around the area, you will think she will at least serve as deterrence to any potential thief.</p>
<p>To jmy626. Yes it is the case we are talking about. It was listed as inactive from the very beginning. It seems like nobody even investigate the case. This is exactly the reason I am asking question trying to figure what to do.</p>
<p>The long and short of it is-you just don’t know what happened or who was responsible. Just being in the area doesn’t make one guilty of ANYTHING. You yourself mention custodians are good at looking after students’ stuff. Why so sure THIS one is any different? But now you’re adding that she should have been a deterrent to any theft-so are you just upset that a theft happened nearby and she didn’t catch it or you think she’s the thief? Or do you just need someone to blame?</p>
<p>BTW-true story-my H was the apartment manager when we lived in a high-end part of Seattle. The owner’s D lived with her boyfriend and one day we were awakened to her screaming, things hitting walls, crying, etc. She was obviously being beaten. My H called the police and the father, then went outside to wait for them. H was the only black person living anywhere near the area. When the police pulled up, who do you suppose they questioned for being in the area lurking around? My point-appearences can be deceiving-even to professionals, never mind a nervous college kid.</p>
<p>My D left her laptop charging yesterday in a locked lab when she went out for a minute. When she came back it was gone and extreme hysteria ensued. When she was coherent, hours later, I asked her “did you check the lost and found” and her response was to imply that I had asked her to consult a psychic. Finally she did. It was there. Apparently, the lab has lights that go out with no motion, so someone thought it had been left and brought it to lost and found.</p>
<p>To jmy626. Also, the serial # of my sons stolen laptop is 6C238668Q, it is a Toshiba satellite. If you know of a way to get the police or somebody to investigate the case, I will be truly appreciated. By the way, I have posted the stolen message all over the place including the internet.</p>
<p>I don’t like the tone that is creeping into this thread. I don’t like insinuation or accusations, and that was a problem with this thread from the onset with the OP.</p>
<p>I have a lot of kids, and I’ve had to emphasize to them that making accusations is not something to do unless you saw someone do something or have a credible witness who did. Accusing someone of theft or lying, to me is a serious thing. </p>
<p>There are often exaggerations, changed circumstances, any number of things on these boards to prevent identification that can hurt the possible innocent. That goes for those that may not be posting true stories. Answering the issues raised in a thread is often valuable even if the situation is not real. If a thread is too outrageous, ignoring it is the best way to go so it dies. </p>
<p>The important things brought in this thread is that identifying something so specifically is not good whether it is true or not, blaming anyone when there is any possibilitiy of another way something happened and it was not witnessed is not good, what your student tells you may not be the truth, sticking around a place where there is a thief is not good. Also with the internet, these days, honing right into an incident,down to the person is easy in a matter of minutes with indentifying info.</p>
<p>OP-
If you know the serial number then tell your son to call the Houston PD, file a report and ask them to check the pawn shop registration logs. Also check Craigslist. Beyond that, I have to agree with those who say that the tone is uncomfortable. The accusations of a cleaning staff being a thief, the department and administration being uncaring or unkind, and the dramatic reaction that Rice is having rampant theft problems, etc is just a bit hard to swallow.</p>
<p>To cptofthehouse. I totally agree with you. I should never put forward the accusation like this. I was so desperately trying to find a way to get somebody to investigate the case; the case was listed as inactive from the very beginning. The only thing that I heard was told to claim the lost with our homeowner insurance, which we do not have. I have failed my son again, as I said before my son will be so much better off without me as his mother.</p>
<p>To jmy626. There are 2 shift of custodian at Rice. The first shift starts around 7am and end at around 2:30pm or 3:00pm. The second shift I believe is in the evening. I didnt know that we can file a police report with Houston police on top of the campus police. Will there be two case numbers then? My son already gave the case number of the campus police to the manufacture of the laptop. Will it be causing any confusion?</p>