Because of improper use, the new lockers at the Lied Recreation Center have done little to decrease the number of thefts.

Mike Harvey, associate director of Recreation Services, said the lockers were intended to minimize the amount of items stolen from patrons of the facility.

“We got $25,000 from [Government of the Student Body] to assist in putting in lockers, but people don’t use locks on them,” he said. “A very small minority is using locks.”

The decision to use lockers that require users to provide their own locks was made to prevent abuse of locker privileges, Harvey said. Other lockers at the Rec require a quarter to release a key, and return the quarter when the key is replaced in the locker after use. Harvey said they had experienced problems with people keeping the keys, and thought the new style of lockers would prevent problems. Now that the lockers are installed, however, people are not using them as intended.

“I have been disappointed with the number of students and other patrons not bringing locks,” Harvey said. “People need to take precautions, or they risk being taken advantage of.”

Recreation Services has weighed a few different options for addressing the problem.

“We considered renting locks by the day, but the thought was that it offered more opportunity for deviance,” Harvey said.

Currently, Recreation Services is planning to offer locks for sale to students.

“We’re going to have them right there as a service so people don’t have to remember to buy them somewhere else and bring them,” Harvey said.

Although Loras Jaeger, director of the Department of Public Safety, said the number of thefts has gone down since the lockers were installed, Harvey said most thefts are simply not reported to authorities.

“People will stop and tell us that something was stolen but not file a formal complaint with DPS,” he said. “I don’t know how many thefts have actually occurred, but it is definitely more than are reported to DPS.”

Jaeger also acknowledged a recent increase in thefts.

“We generally get a push of thefts toward the end of the semester, and we’re beginning to see that,” he said.

Harvey described the thefts as “opportunistic.”

“People are watching and will see somebody stick their cell phone in their locker,” he said. “They’ll just decide to go take it. Some of the thefts are very selective. They just see what’s there.”

Items stolen from the lockers vary, Jaeger said.

“People will take money out of billfolds, or take credit cards and try to use them right away,” he said. “Some students keep CD players in their backpacks, and sometimes they will take those.”

Everyone who chooses to leave something in an unlocked locker risks not finding it there when they return, Harvey said.

“Everyone says `it won’t happen to me,’ but then it does,” he said. “People need to be concerned, and they need to take responsibility for taking care of their things.”

Although Recreation Services is working to make locks available to students on-site, Harvey stressed the lockers are not responsible for the thefts. “The lockers serve their purpose as long as they’re locked,” he said.