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THURSDAY September 9, 2010
WU Police: security not affected by loss of phones phones• from front but when the maintenance contract is renewed, Winthrop will save about $30,000 a year, said JP McKee, vice president for finance and business. The current contract is valid for two more years. Though the lack of landlines may make students worry about their safety, the text and call alerts sent to cell phones is always available. Of the 6,851 subscribers to the program, 4,344 are students registered for this semester, said James Hammond, associate vice president for information technology. “That’s actually pretty good because that’s about 77 percent of the student
How does WU compare to other state schools?
HABITUAL OFFENDER, DRIVING UNDER SUSPENSION, RECEIVE STOLEN GOODS (9/2/10) At 1:26 a.m., a reporting officer observed a gray Ford Escape traveling south on Cherry Road at 49 mph in a 35 mph zone. The officer conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle on Constitution Boulevard. When the officer made contact with the driver, the driver said he had a supsended license. Dispatch confirmed the driver was suspended and a habitual offender. Dispatch told the officer the vehicle’s license plate did not come back to a Ford. Dispatch also said the vehicle’s tag belonged to a Honda and was reported stolen by the Rock Hill Police Department. The driver said he let a friend borrow his vehicle, and his friend said he had registered the vehicle with SCDMV for him. Two officers conducted a tow inventory of the vehicle and had it towed by Interstate Towing. The driver was transported to Rock Hill City Jail; the tag was placed into evidence for recovery and court purposes. Two officers attempted to make contact with the tag’s owner. Winthrop dispatch handled the hit confirmation on the stolen tag while Rock Hill Police Department removed the tag from NCIC as stolen. After an hour in jail, the driver began complaining of hip issues and demanded to go to the hospital. The reporting officer went to the jail to assess the situation and, by the time he arrived, found the driver to be sitting in a wheelchair. The driver then listed all of his medical problems, including a previous broken neck and titanium steel plates in his shoulders. The driver then intentionally turned himself over in the wheelchair, causing him to fall on the jail floor. At this point, he began complaining about his
body,” Hammond said. In his experience, Ken Scoggins, assistant chief of Campus Police, said he had more luck contacting students via their cell phones rather than through landlines. “I don’t see that not having a landline negatively impacts public safety,” Scoggins said. “Mostly everyone has a cell phone or has access to one. The only time a landline would have been available was if the person was right there in the room.” Mention of cutting the landlines was given in a letter sent to students at the end of spring semester, as well as in the roommate assignment letter for this year. The letter states, “Residence hall rooms do not have landline phones. Please bring
Clemson Year cut: 2008 Money saved per year: $1.1 million Number of residence halls: 25
a cell phone that will meet your communication needs.” RAs’ and resident learning coordinators’ (RLC) rooms still have a landline hook up, as well as office phones. Cassens said these phones were left so the university could get in contact with RAs or staff quickly in case of an emergency. A courtesy phone is in the lobby of each residence hall and students can make local calls free of charge. Mckee said there are no plans to get rid of the public phones, but if a large number of students want the landline phones back, Winthrop will put them back. Removing the hook ups might save money in the long run, but graduate student Stephanie Jowers thinks it is a com-
Winthrop Year cut: 2010 Money saved per year: $30,000 Number of residence halls: 7
Police Blotter
knees. Due to his behavior, the officer decided not to transport the driver to the Piedmont Medical Center Emergency Room. EMS was notified and transported the driver to Piedmont; the officer went along as an escort. POSSESSION/CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL UNDER 21 (8/21/10) At 2:49 a.m., a reporting officer observed a male student standing in the Alumni Parking Lot at the corner of Eden Terrace and College Avenue with blood on his shirts and shorts. The officer asked the male, who was highly intoxicated, where the blood came from. “What blood?” the man asked. A female standing nearby said it came from the man’s left hand. The officer noticed a small cut on the male’s left hand beside his pinky finger that was bleeding. The officer asked the male if he needed EMS to respond for his hand. The male declined. The reporting officer gathered the man’s information and found he was only 18 years old. The officer asked the male if he had been drinking. The male said he had. The officer then used the Pas-Vr alcohol sensor to confirm that the man had alcohol in his system. The man was placed under arrest and transported to Rock Hill City Jail. CARELESS DRIVING (8/22/10) At 1:10 a.m., a reporting officer was sitting in the alleyway behind the Citgo gas station at the Winthrop Operations Center when the officer noticed a black Suzuki motorcycle turn from the Five Points area of Oakland Avenue onto Cherry Road and go northbound. The motorcycle quickly accelerated. The reporting officer locked onto the motorcycle as going 60 mph as it sped by.
The officer radioed dispatch and tried to catch up to the motorcycle. The officer caught up to the motorcycle at Cherry Road and Myrtle Drive. The officer approached the driver, who turned and said to the officer, “I know I was being stupid.”
modity that should be given to students. “I personally don’t have a landline because they’re so obsolete. But since they’re so cheap to have, I don’t know why they wouldn’t be offered,” Jowers said. If students are concerned about their safety without a landline but still posses a cell phone, Scoggins encourages students to program Campus Police’s number into their speed dial. “Campus Police are available to students 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” Scoggins said. “Anytime you call us you’re going to get a human on the phone.”
USC Year cut: 2007 Money saved per year: $1.3 million Number of residence halls: 23
subject became very aggitated by looking around for an exit, checking his pants for belongings and stretching. The officer checked him for weapons but found nothing.
PETIT LARCENY, B&E AUTO (8/23/10)
When the officer put the subject’s hands behind his back for investigative detention, the subject resisted and attempted to run. The officer wrapped his arms around the man, and after a brief struggle, both fell to the ground.
A female student reported that someone unknown gained entry into her 2000 tan Lexus SUV sometime between 3:55 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
A second officer arrived and handcuffed the subject, who was taken to Piedmont Medical Center for a bump on his forehead.
The student told the reporting officer her vehicle was illegally parked in the Meadows Lot. The student said she thought she had locked her vehicle.
The subject wanted to be put under suicide watch but was released from the hospital and taken to Rock Hill city jail.
The driver was issued a ticket for careless driving.
Further investigation revealed her vehicle hadn’t been locked. The student said the person who broke into her vehicle took her tan Jansport backpack. Inside of her backpack were: a Toshiba laptop computer, a biostatistics workbook, a jump drive with Winthrop written on it, a mouse with a mouse pad and a bottle of 20 prescription Pentoprozel pills in the student’s name. RESISTING POLICE (9/04/2010) At 8 a.m., a reporting officer was dispatched to the sidewalk of Lee Wicker Hall to investigate an argument between two male subjects. The subjects were arguing over a female student’s cell phone, and one subject claimed to be her boyfriend. Both subjects said they tried to call her the night before, but she did not return her boyfriend’s calls. When the officer asked for identification, one of the male subjects showed an Ohio I.D. card and stated he had never lived in South Carolina. The officer ran a search through Bishopville, S.C. and found the subject did have a valid S.C. license. The male subject said he lied because his grandmother just passed away, and Bishopville brings back bad memories. Once Bishopville was mentioned, the
He is charged with resisiting police and given a tresspassing notice to Winthrop. DAMAGE TO REAL PROPERTY ($1000 or LESS) (9/3/10) At 3:33 p.m., the postal center director approached a reporting officer while he was conducting a walk-through of the DiGiorgio Campus Center. The director reported that a post office mailbox had cosmetic damage; specifically, scratches to the bottom left corner and exposed floor-plate “lip” that extends beyond the door. The officer inspected and photographed the mailbox while the postal center staff members said the student assigned to the box reported she had not been able to open it to retrieve her mail. The staff said the damage occurred between 8 a.m. on Aug. 24 and 3:12 p.m. on Sept. 3. A work request had been submitted at some point for the box’s lock. The door of the box, along with a number of others, cannot be accessed even with the assigned combination. The officer spoke with the student by telephone on Sept.3, but she had gone home for the weekend. She said she had not been able to open her post office box since it was assigned to her.
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