In the month of October, two students experienced car theft on Whitman’s campus. These instances come in the midst of a shooting near campus, raising concerns about student safety on campus and in the nearby neighborhoods.
Lucy Brown was the first student to have her car stolen. She last drove her car on Oct. 17 before parking it in the parking lot outside of the Hall of Science and Harper Joy Theatre. The next day she found her car missing.
“I called Security and then we called the Police Department. I filed a police report and they recently gave me a call saying they recovered [the vehicle]. They showed me photos and it’s super smashed up, sitting over in Pasco,” Brown said.
She indicated that Whitman Security was as helpful as they could have been, but stressed the need for preventative measures instead of reactions to crime, which are limited.
Thomas Shedrock, having gone through a similar situation, agreed. He noticed his car was missing from the Stanton Hall parking lot on Oct. 23 and immediately reported the incident to Whitman Security and the Walla Walla Police Department. Unlike Brown, Shedrock hasn’t been contacted by either entity since the incident.
“This isn’t the first case of car theft on campus, let alone in the last month or so. I feel like the Walla Walla PD and Whitman Security aren’t doing as much as they can to reassure the safety and wellbeing of the students on campus,” Shedrock said.
A day after Shedrock noticed that his car was stolen, Vice President for Communications Gina Zandy Ohnstad relayed a message from Greg Powell, Director of Security at Whitman College. Powell shared an update on the two events but also pointed out some ways to avoid car theft, including locking doors, parking in well-lit areas and investing in wheel and brake pedal locks. However, both Brown and Shedrock felt that this wasn’t enough.
“For the amount of crime that has occurred this semester, it is utterly shocking that there aren’t more security cameras and/or security patrols to keep people off campus who shouldn’t be here,” Shedrock said.
Brown acknowledged the value of privacy but thought certain measures could be taken to avoid events like the car thefts.
“I understand wanting to respect people’s privacy, but at the same time I feel like a parking lot where cars have been stolen is not an unrealistic place to add some more cameras or some more surveillance in general,” Brown said.
Brown was able to review footage from one of four cameras on campus—information that was relayed to her from campus security—but the limited scope of cameras on campus proved this effort to be unhelpful.
In an email to The Wire, Halley Munoz, Assistant Director of Security at Whitman College, explained that campus security has always done its best to keep students safe and campus secure.
“Whitman Security continues to keep the standard of conducting regular patrols on campus, both in vehicle and on foot, and is responsive to any suspicious activities sited and/or reported,” Munoz said.
Additionally, she pointed out that when the Walla Walla Police Department gets involved, they become responsible for the handling of the case.
“If the Walla Walla Police Department (WWPD) is called for any potential crime on campus or property Whitman College is responsible for, they take full ownership of the investigatory process. Whitman Security works closely with WWPD to share any pertinent information that could be beneficial to any investigation,” Munoz said.
Regarding more surveillance on campus, Munoz didn’t speak specifically to that possibility, but pointed out that the WWPD is utilized if there is a need for surveillance.
Since Oct. 23, no cars have been reported stolen. While student concerns continue, the campus community hopes that these events are an anomaly in an otherwise safe environment.
