A recent rash of computer thefts on campus has the Department of Public Safety on alert for potential burglars.

Loras Jaeger, DPS director, said the outbreak of computer thefts in campus buildings has been going on most of the summer.

“This summer, we’ve had a problem with buildings being entered and especially computers and computer equipment being taken or gutted out,” he said.

“It has been a problem we’ve been grappling with the last six weeks.”

Since June 10, the DPS log has reported four burglaries resulting from covert entry into a campus building and at least six instances of attempted entry into buildings. Beyond that, there have been numerous petty thefts in both residence hall rooms and campus buildings.

The most prolific of these heists was the burglary that happened sometime in the early morning hours of July 6.

Thieves broke into the General Services Building and swiped about $13,000 worth of computers and computer equipment.

Jaeger said much of the investigative efforts of DPS during this time has focused on catching the thieves.

“We’ve been putting a lot of time into trying to find out who’s doing this,” he said.

In the interest of keeping the investigation effective, Jaeger declined to comment on any specific suspects or leads.

“I just don’t want to tip those nasty buggers off,” he said. “We want to catch these guys pretty bad, but we’re still just doing the investigation.”

DPS officers are making a concerted attempt to pay attention to suspicious figures on campus and making regular rounds of buildings, Jaeger said.

“We’re spending a lot of time on central campus right now,” he said.

The burglary spree came as a surprise to Jaeger, who said summers on campus typically are pretty slow.

“Generally, the summers are very quiet,” he said, “but this summer action has been unusually high.”

Jaeger offered advice to faculty members and students to keep their computers and data protected.

“Make sure your complexes are locked down when you leave,” he said. “Also make sure your PC data is backed up so you don’t lose anything valuable or irreplaceable.”

Jaeger urged anyone who sees anything or anyone out of the ordinary around campus to call DPS.

“If you see people hanging around and acting suspicious, give us a call so we can check it out,” he said. “Any kind of assistance would be greatly appreciated. This causes a lot of down time for the university.”

Individuals with any information on the case can call DPS at 294-4428.