Junior Stacy Giles left class the afternoon of Feb. 9 and walked to the on-campus parking garage where her car was parked. When she arrived, however, she found someone else was already behind the wheel of her car and driving away.

Giles, a member of the St. Edward’s University softball team, ran after her car, which was heading off-campus, to try to get a description of the driver. She called 911 and then reported the theft to the University Police Department immediately after. UPD showed her video of her car being driven out of the garage.

“All you can see is the car and license plate, not the driver,” Giles said. “They didn’t have any other videos to show me. They did not have a video of the third floor or a video of people walking in and out of the garage. Pretty pointless, if you ask me.”

The car theft followed several other thefts in the parking garage and the on-campus apartments. It was also at least the second theft of a vehicle on-campus this year.

Giles had been parked on the third floor of the garage, where the two previous vehicle break-ins occurred.

Since Giles’ vehicle was stolen, UPD plans to add five additional cameras to the parking garage as well as employ two rotating, on-duty police officers to monitor the parking garage at all times, said UPD Lt. Dan Beck.

But for Giles, that was too late.

“If there were break-ins, then why wasn’t there an increase in security?” Giles asked.

Issues of Jurisdiction

Beck said he does not suspect that students are committing the crimes.

“We have no reason to believe that the people that are committing the bike thefts, the burglaries of vehicles, the theft of the vehicle, or anything else have anything to do with this campus,” Beck said. “They’re people from off campus.”

UPD shares their reports with the Austin Police Department because their jurisdiction ends at campus limits.

Giles case was being investigated by UPD as well as APD. The case was turned over to UPD, however, because the car was recovered and is now in an impound lot. Giles is not allowed to pick up her car yet because UPD is still investigating the theft.

Beck said because UPD believes that people from off campus are committing these crimes, APD can help because they know more about the surrounding area.

“We’re not bashful about asking for help,” Beck said. “Certainly the Austin Police Department knows more about people off campus than we do.”

On Patrol

Although university police collaborate with city police, there are now 14 uniformed officers on campus, including Beck and University Police Chief Rudolph Rendon. The department is down one and a half officers, Beck said.

One of those missing officers is Brandon Gilroy, the son of two other UPD officers. Gilroy, who usually worked the overnight shift, was freshly out of jail after posting bail on charges of improper photography in a Macy’s fitting room on Feb. 10, when a burglary of an on-campus apartment occurred.

Gilroy resigned Feb. 11. His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 25.

The number of officers on campus does not pose problems, Beck said. He said safety and patrol depend on how many people are on campus. If there is a big event or increased crime, then there are not enough officers, but if there are no events and low crime rates, there are probably too many officers, Beck said.

“As the patrol officer, would I turn down more officers? No,” Beck said. “But I don’t have to pay for them. I realize how much we cost and I realize it’s your tuition money.”

The Neighborhood

St. Edward’s is located in the third-highest crime rate zip code in Austin for 2009, according to Austin Police Department. St. Edward’s is a private university, but it is not operating in a bubble, and the off-campus crime is spilling over into the St. Edward’s community.

“People from off campus have realized we’re here,” Beck said. “Those people that have been committing all of those burglaries have realized we’re here, so we are getting attention from them.”

The recent rise in burglaries counters the reported decline in burglaries from 2006 to 2008. Campus crimes are required to be reported by universities under the 1990 Jeanne Clery Act.

In 2006, St. Edward’s reported 11 burglaries. In 2008, that reported number was down to three. The numbers from 2009 have not yet been reported to the U.S. Department of Education.

Similarly-sized universities in urban settings like Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Trinity University in San Antonio and Concordia University, formerly located in downtown Austin, had significantly more burglaries in those three years, but saw similar declines.

Under Control

Despite the recent troubles, Beck said that the crime situation is under control.

“We as a community will get passed this current difficulties,” Beck said. “Either we’re going to catch these people or APD is.”

But until the investigations come to a close there still a sense of unease among students.

“There have been multiple car break-ins and an apartment break-in, so how am I supposed to feel safe?” Giles said. “I’m afraid to walk to the parking garage alone now because if I would have been three minutes earlier, I would have been in the garage when the guy was stealing my car.”

 

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