BY KILEY FARRELL // APRIL 17, 2015 //

A group of Curry students took part in a game of “manhunt” Sunday evening, April 12, on the south side of campus. Little did they know things would turn into a real-life investigation.

During the game—a combination of “hide and go seek” and tag—junior Tyler Koning, a communication major, saw a group of young people behind SCRH. One of them had just jumped out of a common room window. A pair of Curry students confronted the strangers, and one of them instantly ran away with what turned out to be a stolen cellphone.

Public Safety was contacted. According to Chief Brian Greeley, Public Safety then contacted the Milton Police Department. Ultimately, the five young people were allowed to leave campus because Milton Police decided a crime was not committed. None of them were in possession of stolen property.

PHOTO BY HEATHER, creative commons

This was not the first robbery from a student residence hall. On March 31, students reported two separate incidents, at 886 and Suites, in which property was stolen through open windows. Public Safety notified the campus community, and asked students to take greater precautions, including locking first-floor windows. Another on-campus robbery also occurred in early November.

“I personally think that Public Safety needs to start focusing more on having coverage around each gate on campus, rather than wasting time in residence halls,” said junior Sammie Jacobs, a management major. “The other night really opened my eyes because it never occurred to me how unsafe we all can be until I personally experienced the incident. We’re lucky just a phone got stolen, and no one got hurt.”

According to students familiar with Sunday night’s investigation, the young people were from Hyde Park and simply walked onto campus at around 9 p.m. The fact the trespassers were allowed to leave campus without consequence bothered a number of Curry students.

“Regardless of their age, and whether they were minors or not, PS still should’ve done something—instead of allowing them to just walk away with no punishment, leaving them to feel like they can just do it again,” said junior Shannon Hickey, a nursing major.

In an interview this week, Greeley said the kids would be immediately arrested if found on the campus again.

“Just like most colleges, we have several entrances and exits,” he said. “We can control who comes on campus in automobiles, however, we rely on our college—such as students, faculty, etc.—to realize if something doesn’t look right so they can call Public Safety, and we can check it out.

“Public safety is everyone’s responsibility,” Greeley added, “therefore we want everyone to be involved.”