San Jose City College campus police are conducting an investigation regard-ing the recurring thefts in the broadcast-ing class and campus radio station. The thefts started in the fall of 2012 and have continued into the first part of this spring semester.

Broadcasting instructor Betsey Gebhart said a cell phone, a flash drive, iPad cords, her personal USB headphones and a pair of radio station headphones all went missing in the fall of 2012. This semester a cell phone and a broadcast-ing Pro Tools software DVD have gone missing. All of the stolen items have been electronic and software items.

Gebhart is concerned about who is victimized by the thefts.

“When a thief steals from people at our college, you are not stealing from the upstairs people, the people who have everything,” Gebhart said, “you’re stealing from the downstairs people, the students, the teacher(s) and the school, who basically have very little.”

Brian Bertrand, 28, media arts major, the station manager and president of the media club, said, “Everything that we use (in the radio station) has a purpose and is very important. (Anything) that was stolen from here affects me as the station manager because I am the one that has to come in and work around it.”

This issue has raised the security factor for Bertrand, as the station manager, as far who is allowed in and out of the station.

A formal report regarding these thefts was made to campus police a couple of weeks ago, although students had pre-viously tried to file these reports at the time of the thefts. Reports were not previously filed because the campus po-lice office was closed when the students went to make the reports.

Lieutenant Gilberto Torres said students should not walk away when they see the campus police office is closed. They should call the number that is posted on the door because the police officers want to take care of these cases.

“The phone number on the door will reach a dispatcher who will in turn dis-patch an officer to wherever the need arises,” Torres said.

Torres said when the perpetrator or perpetrators are caught the case will then be referred to the district attorney’s office. The DA will then make the appropriate charges depending on the evi-dence of the case.

Bertrand said he believes the person who stole these items is tech-savvy, knows what these items are for, and also knows the value and importance of these items.

Both Gebhart and Torres said they believe that this is simply a crime of opportunity.

Gebhart has made various announcements about this theft problem in her class and has let her students know that she is watching.

She asked them to notify her if they notice anything suspicious and is hoping that these announcements will serve as a deterrent and will minimize the problem.

Torres said people need to prevent themselves from being victimized.

“If we as a college community take a proactive approach to preventing certain crimes like this one, I think the number of thefts will drop,” Torres said.

Dean of Language Arts Keiko Kimura said it is unfortunate that theft is occurring on campus and we have to take precautions.

“I would caution people to (take) care of (their) personal belongings and make sure you have them secured,” Kimura said. “It’s just an unfortunate reality that we have to do that, but it is important.”