by Erin Turner | Oct 15, 2014 | News Slider
Unlocked doors are an invitation to thieves. But this doesn’t stop Lipscomb students from leaving their doors unlocked. “I’m too lazy to get my keys out and unlock my door every time I need to,” junior Dee Baddley said. “It’s an inconvenience.” 34 cases of burglary occurred in 2013, 10 of which were in on-campus student housing facilities. “We live in a great environment here at Lipscomb,” said Lipscomb Assistant Director of Campus Security Patrick Cameron. “We are in a good neighborhood, we have good people, and so it is very easy to feel safe and to leave your doors open and unlocked.” Cameron said that while it does feel great to be on a safe campus, it only takes one second for anyone to walk in and grab whatever is out if the door is left open. “We strongly encourage — even if you are going to be down the hall — if you can’t see your door, you need to lock it. “If you’re going to the restroom you need to lock it, if you’re going to a shower, you need to take your keys with you and lock it,” Cameron said. Because several of the burglaries occurred during hours of the night, students are highly encouraged to lock their dorm doors, especially while they sleep. In 2012, there were only six cases of burglaries, and in 2011 there were 29 cases. As the number of cases has increased over the last 3 years, students should not only lock their doors but also be aware of who is coming in their dorm. Students should also be aware...
by Aaron Schmelzer | May 9, 2014 | News Slider
Lipscomb has a generally good reputation concerning the amount of crimes that occur on campus. But, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s 2013 crime statistics show that the school ranks near the top of the list in comparison to nearby colleges with the number of reported burglaries and thefts. The amount of reported larcenies and thefts have gradually increased from 2010. In 2013, there were 52 reported larcenies/thefts, while in 2012, there were 29, a difference of 23 reports. The difference between burglaries and thefts/larceny, as Lipscomb Assistant Director of Campus Security Patrick Cameron described, is a matter of where the crime occurs. “If you leave your dorm room unlocked, [and] somebody comes in and steals your wallet out of your dorm room, it still counts as a burglary because it’s your residence,” Cameron said. He went on to say that theft occurs when an possession is stolen from a public place that the thief has permission to be in. To the left are the 2013 statistics compared to the past few years. Sophomore molecular biology major Mark Mitchell was a burglary victim last year. He and his roommate left their door unlocked at night quite often, and the money in his wallet was stolen. “I had [about] 100, 200 dollars in my wallet, in my desk, tucked away,” Mitchell said. The thief had walked into his room, taken the money and left. Though Mitchell was stolen from, his outlook on Lipscomb hasn’t changed. He does, however, encourage students to be more aware. “People need to be aware,” Mitchell said. “You need to recognize that this is not a bubble....
by Emily Snell | Sep 20, 2012 | News Slider
A former student, who was wanted for an on-campus burglary that took place in February, was arrested on campus Thursday morning. Around 10 a.m., Lipscomb Security recognized Shaun Immanuel Saunders, 27, thanks to a “be on the lookout” alert related to his previous offense. Hunter Patterson, a May graduate who happened to be on campus, witnessed the event. “I was in the amphitheater and saw two Lipscomb security guards escorting a restrained individual across campus,” he said. “They were about to go through the square, it looked like.” Saunders was turned over to Metro Police officers soon after. His bond was set at $25,000. According to an affidavit from Metro Police, Saunders had not attended Lipscomb for a year prior to the burglary. The report said surveillance video from Feb. 16 showed Saunders in the student center and then showed him in a classroom, stealing an iMac computer. He also appeared on surveillance video with the iMac and a flat screen TV near the loading dock, where he was putting the items in a silver vehicle. This is the second arrest that Metro Police, with help from campus security, has made on campus within the past seven days, including a man who was arrested on campus Saturday afternoon for public intoxication. Brad Wyatt, director of security, said in his five years at Lipscomb, campus security has never needed to call Metro onto campus for an arrest prior to this week. Continue to follow Lumination as this story develops. Sydney Poe, Nicolette Carney and Cory Woodroof contributed to this...
