Ever since schools and universities, including San Jose State, began looking like ghost towns after the coronavirus pandemic started, campuses became open season for burglaries.
“These are crimes of opportunity,” University Police Department Capt. Frank Belcastro said in a Zoom call. “Our buildings are basically empty . . . so we have more people prowling around and they know they can get in with nobody really around.”
According to a Nov. 17, 2020 San Jose Police Department presentation to City Council, school burglaries increased 135% in 2020 compared to 2019. At the beginning of the pandemic, there were 45 school burglaries citywide.
“Over the past year, with a limited population on campus, we have experienced a rise in burglaries in some of our unattended buildings,” said Charlie Faas, SJSU vice president for administration and finance in an email. “It’s typical in any location that is not heavily populated with people or activities, that crimes of opportunity go up.”
Belcastro said there’s been 40 reported burglaries in SJSU buildings from March 1, 2020 to March 1, 2021, according to UPD data. He said three individuals were responsible for many of those break-ins.
Those individuals were arrested multiple times by UPD, Belcastro said, but continued burglarizing.
“Unfortunately, the court system, the [District Attorney] is a revolving door,” he said. “I think there was one individual who I think we arrested him about a dozen times.”
UPD Chief of PoliceGina Di Napolisaid the main issue UPD faces isn't getting the offenders arrested, but rather having to justify charging them. She said when offenders are charged “they go into the courts and the courts basically just let them go.”
Belcastro spoke about Proposition 57, Proposition 47 and the criminal justice system actively keeping people out of jail, especially with jails at lower capacities because of COVID-19 safety protocols.
Proposition 57 was approved in 2016 and allows parole consideration for nonviolent felons and juvenile court judges to decide whether juveniles will be prosecuted as adults.
Proposition 47 recategorized some nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors, rather than felonies.
Di Napoli and Belcastro emphasized the connection between drugs and victimless crimes, including campus burglaries, and that this connection needs to be addressed by the criminal justice system.
Belcastro said more than 90% of the suspects UPD officers arrest are carrying some kind of drug or drug paraphernalia.
“The criminal justice system needs to take that into account,” Belcastro said, adding that judges need to reconsider releasing offenders who’ve committed victimless crimes to finance their addictions.
“We can’t fix the courts, unfortunately, but I can tell you if there is no consequence to anything it’s going to occur again because what is going to deter them?” Di Napoli said. “We’re doing everything on our end and now it’s going to be up to the courts to do something on their end and so far, that’s been an issue.”
Di Napoli said UPD has established a burglary suppression team that will work weekends to combat the problem.
She and Belcastro said they’ve had more officers monitor campus buildings, and detectives have reached out to staff in buildings previously compromised to do security walk-throughs with them.
The UPD and Faas said almost every other crime statistic is down or significantly down at SJSU.
Di Napoli said she analyzed crimes including: vandalism, burglaries, disturbances, suspicious people, trespassing and other similar crimes, and found crime dropped 50% in those categories last year compared to 2019.
However, she said UPD expected a higher crime drop because of the reduced campus population and said it was largely because people who aren’t affiliated with SJSU were committing these crimes.
Faas also stated in his email SJSU facilities will continue to be locked and require everyone to use their Tower ID card to open building doors, a change that began last spring.
He said other improvements include: additional cameras, community policing, lighting, bollards to prevent cars on campus, ADA access, outdoor broadcast systems and classroom upgrades.
Faas also spoke about the S-2 door locking system, an electronic locking system that allows SJSU to monitor doors.
He said these locks are compatible with the new cameras and campus officials have already seen attempted door break-ins. Both the Facilities Development and Operations and UPD have provided solutions to prevent future issues.
“With the future repopulation of our campus, we fully expect to return to significantly lower burglary rates,” Faas stated in his email. “Each of us needs to be vigilant, watch for any issues, report them immediately to UPD and ensure that doors and access to buildings remain closed and secure.”
