The summer was not a quiet one for Department of Public Safety officials — they spent much of their time investigating a series of computer thefts that began in early June.

Although few thefts have occurred recently, DPS still is dealing with thieves attempting to enter locked buildings, said Loras Jaeger, DPS director.

“[The thefts] have slowed down, but we are still having problems with buildings being forcefully entered or doors being propped open,” he said. “People like to get into the buildings, so they will prop [the doors] open to have their friends get in, and it causes a lot of problems. It compromises security in the building.”

About $20,000 in theft and damages to computer equipment and software were reported throughout the summer burglary spree, said Aaron Delashmutt, DPS patrol officer and case investigator. Delashmutt said the College of Design Building and the General Services Building were the hardest hit by burglars.

Jaeger and Delashmutt said the stolen computer parts usually are sold or used to build personal computers.

David Miller, director of facilities and utilities at the General Services Building, said officials may have determined how access was gained to the building during the early morning hours of July 6.

“All indications [show] they entered the building from a steam tunnel,” Miller said. “We were remodeling on the second floor, and some of the doors were removed as part of the remodeling process in the center stairwell. [This] allowed access from the basement to the second floor.”

Computers located in a second floor office space were vandalized, totaling $13,000 in damages. One computer was stolen, while 13 others had CPU chips, hard drive and RAM removed.

“When you came in the morning, it looked the same as it did the night before. Only when you turned [the computers] on did it become apparent that they didn’t work,” Miller said.

The General Services Building replaced the computers with its own money because the building isn’t covered by insurance.

Since the burglary, alarms have been installed to the steam tunnel doors and to other areas of the building.

The College of Design Building, which was struck during the early-morning hours of Aug. 15, had a fifth-floor computer gutted causing more than $3,400 worth of damages.

A more recent attempted entry was discovered early Friday morning, Aug. 20, at the Lab of Mechanics Building when a Student Patrol Officer found pry marks on a door.

Jaeger said no one gained entrance to the building.

In addition to security measures within each building, DPS officials have Student Patrol Officers who lock buildings and patrol the campus from 5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. Accredited DPS officers are also on duty during that time.

“There are almost 200 buildings on campus, and it is a formidable task to keep them all secured,” Jaeger said.

The investigation is continuing into all of the thefts. Jaeger said DPS is “running down a number of leads.”

Both Jaeger and Miller said ISU employees should make sure their computer systems are backed up, especially in research areas.

“Primarily, people need to keep track of their equipment and pay attention to security measures,” Miller said. “In many cases, the value may be the data inside and not just the computer.”

Anyone with information regarding the case is encouraged to call DPS at 294-4428.