When Casey Harvey, resident assistant of Noble and Knapp floors in Friley Hall, went door to door in an attempt to meet his summer residents, he didn’t realize room 3362 wasn’t supposed to be occupied.

“He looked at me. I looked at him. I apologized for waking him up if I did, and I walked away,” said Harvey, junior in physics. “I thought nothing of it until the next day when I checked the log and realized that nobody was supposed to be in that room; then I alerted [the Department of Public Safety].”

Late last spring semester, DPS received several reports from the Department of Residence staff that unauthorized persons who seemed to have no permanent address were residing in Friley.

“This was the first time I had seen this person in a room. I had seen him sleeping in the Terrace Room before, though,” Harvey said. “We haven’t seen him in nearly two weeks, so I think we scared him off.”

“We asked for assistance in reporting suspicious behavior,” said Jerry Stewart, director of DPS. “The residence hall staff and faculty have been very good about reporting occurrences.

“There was evidence that someone may have been living in a room, but was not there when we did the patrol. There is no reason to believe there were any other criminal activities taking place,” Stewart said. “The computer labs [in Friley] were reported as being a site where several of these individuals were frequently seen.”

By all appearances, these people were moving from one building to another, using them for shelter or residence, Stewart said.

These incidents were not specific to Friley, however. The Memorial Union and at least one other academic building have reported situations involving these unauthorized inhabitants.

“Several of these individuals were encountered on a weekly basis and advised to move on,” Stewart said. “They were told that these areas were not intended as residence for those who weren’t affiliated with this institution.”

Stewart said DPS has received more reports recently because of heightened awareness on campus.

“We arrested one individual for criminal trespass after he had been warned to stay away from that area,” Stewart said.

This was the same individual who was arrested last spring for carrying a concealed weapon, Stewart said. He was a non-student who was carrying a knife with a blade that exceeded the legal length.

“Since then, he has been encountered at least three times in various university buildings,” Stewart said. “He failed to appear in court on the criminal trespass charges and we encountered him as recently as last week.”

The individual has since been served a letter in an attempt to keep him off university property.

To ensure continued safety in the buildings, DPS has done almost nightly patrols of certain buildings, including Friley Hall.

“We have since taken measures to make sure access is limited,” said Kate Bruns, communications specialist for the Department of Residence.

Every exterior door in Friley Hall has since been locked in an effort to curb building intruders. The resident assistant on duty has been encouraged to look for suspicious activities and Student Security officers are checking the empty floors, Harvey said.

“Every time there is a person who doesn’t appear to, or does not belong in the hall, we ask people to report them as a trespasser,” Bruns said.

“It’s the same procedure for those who are unescorted.”

Stewart said at Iowa State, and throughout Iowa, people tend to be very accommodating and trusting. Unauthorized residents aren’t the only suspicious people DPS has had to deal with.

Stewart said DPS arrested a man a few years ago who was stealing from faculty offices. He would walk in with a large bag and steal items from desks.

“When confronted, he would state he was looking for someone, and give a false name,” Stewart said. “As the result of a faculty member reporting him, we were able to recover thousands of dollars in equipment and currency.”

At times, DPS works undercover in places like recreation facilities and the library where there have been instances of wallet, credit card and book thefts.

“We conducted surveillance and placed plain clothes officers at the scene,” Stewart said. “I recall one incident at the library where we planted books and a Walkman and it led to us recovering stolen equipment.”