Author: Dennis
Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 4:28am
Yes, that’s right folks, it’s happened again. Our car park has been broken into AGAIN (making it the FOURTH time this year alone) and this time our fellow hallies have had their cars broken into, and worse.
I am starting this thread for a number of reasons:
- To provide our community with an accurate description of the events (not a fictional tale woven by gossip queens and attention seekers who wish they were there.
- To express my outrage at the ineptitude and incompetence displayed by our Campus Security
- To raise awareness of the imminent danger to both our property and ourselves
- and finally, TO GET SOMETHING FUCKING DONE ABOUT THIS SHIT. I have had enough, it is NOT FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH.
At 9:45pm on Monday night (28th August 2006), Zoe and I were walking to my car, which was parked on the hill next to the hall units, that overlooks the car park. I heard the rustling of a wire fence, and looked over to see two figures climbing one of the trees overhanging the fence on the east (village) side of the car park, using denim jackets to scale the tigerwire, and then dropping down onto the bonnets of the cars parked on the east side. Both of them were of aboriginal appearance, of slim build, anywhere between 14 to 16 years old, and both around 5’5”.I told Zoe to wait inside my car while I ran to our unit and called security, informing them that someone had just broken into our car park, and to “get here NOW!” While I was gone, Zoe saw the two check all of the cars up and down the East (Marion) side
of the car park, paying particular interest to Jordan’s red Feroza 4wd, Kelly’s blue Corolla sedan, and Toby’s silver VN station wagon. As I returned, the two offenders were breaking open Toby’s driver side door. They then opened the passenger door from the inside, and both sat in the car. For two minutes, Zoe and I heard them break Toby’s dashboard panels off, to gain access to the wiring loom under the steering column, in order to hotwire the car. I was wondering when the FUCK security were about to arrive, and ran down the hill to the Sturt tennis court to find them, while Zoe waited at my car on the hill. She tried calling other hallies mobiles’ to get them to phone security.
At the Sturt tennis court I was stopped by the head security officer and had to explain that I was a resident, and the one who had just called them. I told him again, “They are in there right NOW breaking someone’s stuff, what are you doing?” The three security vehicles were parked alongside the tennis courts and around the corner on University Drive. “Oh, they’re in there now? Well we’ve called the police, they’re on the way”. I heard on the officer’s radio that they had “found a suspicious car on the campus”, down near where University Drive turns off to the Med Centre. They had spoken to the driver, who claimed “I’ve just run out of petrol, I’m waiting for some friends to come and help me out”.I went back up the hill to Zoe, who had seen them get Toby’s car started by hotwiring it. They were ready to leave, when they turned Toby’s engine off and went over to Kelly’s car, and smashed her door locks with a screwdriver. It would appear they were about to hotwire her car also and leave with both vehicles, when one of them spotted the security vehicle parked on University Drive. They went to leave via the fence on the east side, so Zoe and I came down the hill onto Hall Terrace. When they saw us, The two offenders climbed on the bonnets of the cars on the west side, trying to escape the compound. They used the cars to get them high enough to put their jackets over the tigerwire, and then climbed over them and down the hill to University Drive. Zoe and I followed them around the north side of the carpark where we saw one of the offenders get picked up by a car coming from the med centre turn-off, and the other ran across the oval.
There was one security car was on the oval already, ao Zoe and I signalled from the middle of University Drive to a different, oncoming security car that the Sigma driving away was the getwaway car. The security driver approaching us did nothing to give chase, instead casually drove up to us and asked “what the problem was”. I explained what had happened, and asked why he had made no attempt to stop or chase the getaway car. He gave me no reply, and would not tell me his name when I asked.
By this stage, it was 9:55pm. The police arrived in an unmarked car, and were given the registration of the getaway car, a light brown Mitsubishi Sigma, by security. Zoe and I went to the common room to call Duty Tutor Adam, and see if we could find Toby. Adam talked to the police and security, and collected evidence left in the car park, which included jackets that had been tangled in the tigerwire, and a hat one
of the aboriginals had dropped during their escape. Police later found the getaway car, which was stolen, and took three aboriginals into custody. Toby and Kelly have given official statements to the police, and Zoe and I have to do so tomorrow.
So, lets examine this shall we. Security’s first step was to call the police. Fuck, I COULD CALL THE POLICE MYSELF, and they’d probably get here faster than including the middleman.
Then, they sat around at the tennis courts while one of our fellow hallies cars was hotwired, and it could just as easily have been any one of ours. And when I told them that the offenders were still in there, they made NO ATTEMPT to catch them in the act.
Instead, they sat around and were eventually spotted by the offenders, which gave them time to escape. (psst... you're not in camo, you're a silver car with bright orange lights, so you give away your position very easily...)
These kids had successfully hotwired one car, and were getting ready to do the same to a second, and I speculate that (unless they had a carpark access card, which I doubt) they would get the cars out by driving them through the North fence of the carpark. That fence is shitty and weak, and anyone could easily take it out with the tiniest of shitty cars. It is simply not good enough.
Security knew that there was a suspicious car on campus, but made no attempt to stop that driver from fleeing the scene. Sure, you can’t fucking arrest him (you’re only rent-a-cops anyway), but you can park your shitty Echo in front of him across the FMC turn off and prevent him from getting to his buddies during the escape.
Next, the security car on University Drive, the one that Zoe and I signalled to, to stop the getaway car, made NO ATTEMPT to stop them, or give chase. What the fuck? Again, You can park your car across the road and block traffic. If it was just some normal, innocent person, they’d stop and be reasonable, but anyone driving a getaway car would have to go around you, and that would tell you for sure that they’re up to something.
Bottom line: YOU SHOULDN”T HAVE LET ANY FUCKING CARS LEAVE CAMPUS WHILE YOU KNEW THERE WAS A SUSPICIOUS CAR IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO A CRIME! Are you fucking retarded? I’ve seen six-year-olds play “cops and robbers” better than you guys. Also, when I asked for your help, why the fuck didn’t you answer me? I’m a resident on campus, it is your job to help me! And you didn’t give me your name when I asked because you knew I was going to report you for doing a shitty job.
Finally, the security car on the oval. A getaway car is fleeing the scene, your buddies in the other cars have scrambled because they know the offenders are fleeing, and one kid sprints across the oval. FOLLOW HIM! IT WAS HIM! Do you need it spelled out for you? Anyone could tell you that that is the kind of guy you pursue. He sure as hell wasn’t going to outrun you, because he’s on foot and you’re in a car! How the hell did he get away?
So everybody, what the hell is going on? THIS IS NOT FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH (yes, I’m angry, can you tell?) Security are not doing the job we pay them for and our compound is far from “secure”. I don’t know how we go about fixing this, but I know a few things for sure:
- We need security to DO THEIR FUCKING JOB. I am making a formal complaint myself. Calling the police for us does not count as you having done your duty.
- We need higher fences on our compound, ones that you can’t get over by standing on a car’s bonnet. They need to be made out of something stronger than that chicken-wire shit, and the North fence needs to be replaced, NOW. And tigerwire, the shit that you can get over with a denim jacket? We need RAZORWIRE people (you’re seen SAW, you know what I’m talking about).
- We need to get rid of ALL those trees. Apparently, they were trimmed. It is nowhere near good enough, because those aboriginal kids got over there in about five seconds flat by climbing a tree.
- We need security drive-bys to be more frequent, or we need someone to watch our compound every second of the night. Impractical, yes, so I’m open to ideas.
- We need security cameras. Sure they’re another target for vandalists, but it looks like we are out of options here.
Finally, what about the danger this threatens fellow hallies with? What if one of us had been coming home from work and surprised the thieves? Imagine one of the girls we live with being set upon by the two aboriginals. Did they have knives, or other weapons? What if one of our neighbours got hurt? Why are we still sitting on our hands? Why are we okay with this?
So as you can tell by now, I’m pretty outraged. I personally am staging a carpark embargo, and I am only using the top carpark at night from now on, until they fix this fucking mess up. I encourage everyone who wants something done about this to do the same. Park up the top, where hallies can watch out for you. Park in the loading bay, by the smokers table, on the grass, under the mezzanine, wherever your car will be safe. If security want to give you a ticket, well, that's about the only part of thier job they can do properly. And you won't be the only one appealing the fine, because OUR CARPARK IS NOT SAFE. It has been broken into at least FOUR TIMES this year! We are uni students, we can not afford insurance and repairs, and we should be safe in our own home.
Something needs to be done. The people have spoken. And the people are fucking angry.
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