Thefts at the Fresh Food Company cafeteria in Residence Commons have been on the rise, according to students living in residence.
Mark Hargreaves, Campus Safety community liaison officer, said theft is the number one most reported incident on campus.
“This year, since Sept. 1 to today, we have six reported thefts,” Hargreaves said. “It is not unusual to receive thefts from that area or anywhere else on campus.”
Due to the ban on bringing bags into the Fresh Food Company, students must leave their bags in the provided storage area before entering. According to Laura Storey, Carleton’s housing director, “this policy is in place to prevent students from stealing food from the cafeteria as it is all you can eat.”
The issue with the policy, however, is that any time items are left unattended, they are potentially subject to theft. Hargreaves said theft “at the maximum is a criminal offence and can be punishable by charges being laid.”
First-year journalism student Mackenzie Cielen-Gough said she had her items taken from the Fresh Food Company on Oct. 6, but was eventually able to retrieve what was stolen.
“I went into the cafeteria at around 10:35 after leaving my lecture. I dropped my bag off in a cubby hole and returned at around 10:50 to retrieve it because I had another class to get to, but when I returned I found that my bag was no longer there,” Cielen-Gough said.
She later made a post on a Carleton social group on Facebook about the incident, which eventually was responded to by a student claiming to have taken her bag by accident.
But Cielen-Gough said she is concerned about the lack of security in the area where students are required to leave their bags.
“I have heard of many other people having their belongings stolen as well. However, they were not as lucky as I was to get their things back,” she said. “A change in the policy is necessary or at the very least security measures should be improved.”
Campus Safety has taken notice of the rising number of thefts in the cafeteria. According to a posting on their website, Campus Safety is “working with Aramark and the Fresh Food Co. in Residence Commons to further deter thefts from within that area.”
While there are currently no cameras installed near the storage area where students leave their belongings while they are in the cafeteria, Storey said there will soon be some installed to prevent any further incidents.
Hargreaves said he thinks “the best way to deter theft is to not allow the opportunity.”
