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Security breach in Eric Palin

By Tara Lindemann

Two laptops were stolen out of separate locked PhD offices on the third floor of Eric Palin Hall on Feb. 18.

After returning to campus the next morning and realizing their equipment had been stolen, firstyear PhD candidate Abul Hasem and second-year PhD candidate Foisal Ahmed Mirza contacted Ryerson’s campus security. A brief investigation showed that of the building’s four master keys, one had been reported lost.

A week later, Hasem was given a Toronto Police Service case file number.

“Maybe one week before, my friend saw somebody fiddling with our lock,” said Mirza. “He asked him what he was doing and the man ran away. So of course I am concerned for future thefts. I don’t know what Ryerson security is doing, but how can someone just walk in at night like that?”

“In this situation, our advice would be not to house as much valuable equipment in the locked areas that a key has been lost from,” said Tanya Fermin- Poppleton, manager of Security & Emergency Services at Ryerson. “A notification would most likely come to those using the space. Putting up [a security watch] advertises the loss of keys”

Recent “high-profile” incidents are posted on Ryerson’s security and emergency services website, and on the 37 bulletin boards around campus. While incidents of assault and incidents of potential physical threat are posted, there is nothing of the recent theft.

“It’s insane to think that nothing is being done beyond an advisory, ‘do not leave valuables,’” said Thomas Cottrell-Duncan, a first-year hospitality and tourism management student. “While that certainly applies to common areas, personal safety could be compromised and one would expect locks and bolts to change immediately in more focused areas of study.”

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