Dear Science Hill Community,
We received a report that an unauthorized person gained access to the Physical Sciences Building last night. The police were called and the intruder departed the area before they arrived. We have fixed the broken lock on the room the intruder was found in. We do not know how this person gained access to the building.
This is one of several reports we’ve received over the past month of an unauthorized person accessing our buildings. On April 23rd, a person attempting to gain access to Nat Sci II was arrested. A report of that incident can be found on the UCPD social media pages (facebook, twitter, instagram).
Protecting the wellbeing of our faculty, staff and students and ensuring our buildings are safe places to work is a community effort. As a reminder, there are protocols that you can follow to help stop unauthorized access into your space:
- Keep doors to the corridor locked, especially when there is no one in your lab to monitor access.
- Don’t let anyone follow you into the building. If they are authorized to work in your building, they should have a key or keycard to open the door. Conversely, if someone is ahead of you, be patient and give some space, letting the door close completely so you don’t create a situation where they feel obligated to ask if you are authorized to enter.
- Biomed Occupants: Pay special attention and monitor the entry door until it is closed after you enter using the ADA automatic door opener. The opener keeps the entry accessible for a few seconds, but it is enough for someone following you to enter without notice. This is true at all entrances equipped with automatic openers, but Biomed is especially prone to this tactic because the proximity of the card-reader to the ADA button makes it an often-used convenience.
- Don’t leave doors propped open without supervision.
- If you notice personal items go missing, report it to campus police.
If you encounter an unauthorized individual in your space or witness/experience a crime, please call 911 for assistance from UCSC campus police. We also welcome reports of safety and security concerns to our facilities group. You can email Chris Parker (cmp@ucsc.edu) with questions, concerns and suggestions to improve safety for our community.