An organized group involved in St. Louis area university and college textbook thefts, consisting of a scam to convince students to sell stolen textbooks to campus bookstores, has been apprehended.
According to an e-mail sent on June 14 from Robert Roeseler, chief of University police, the group of 12 individuals, both male and female, stole textbooks from bookstores at Fontbonne University, Maryville University, Washington University, Florissant Valley Community College and UM-St. Louis during the past six weeks.
Since student identification is required to sell books back at the UM-St. Louis bookstore, the individuals approached students in the parking lot and in the Millennium Student Center, claiming to have forgotten their I.D. cards and conning unsuspecting students into selling books back to the bookstore for them.
"Anytime you have a large university, you're going to have thefts," said campus police officer Gregory Bingham.
"We have a low crime rate here, which I'm glad to say, but it's an ongoing thing, and we work with other schools to try to not only apprehend but to stop the flow of people coming in here to steal books and bring things back."
According to Bingham, increased safety measures on campus include more foot patrol, informational flyers, networking with other universities both verbally and at monthly meetings and close detective work.
"We try to be proactive," he said, adding that a detective bureau is currently involved in an ongoing investigation of textbook theft cases across college campuses.
In the event that scammers approach students, Bingham said students should, "call the police or notify the folks in here."Overall, he stressed that students should be aware of their surroundings.
Other safety tips he offered included knowing the locations of call phones throughout campus and knowing a contact person such as a residential assistant or operations manager to go to in order to connect with campus security.
"If you ever have an issue with anything, call us, because we work well with the kids. I like working with the youth here on campus, and I hope students don't have a problem coming to us, because that's what we're here for," he said. "Be safe. Be your first line of defense. Be aware."
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