There has been an increase in multimedia equipment theft from De Anza College classrooms, hurting the pockets of the school’s already tight budget. Campus property, projectors and computers are being stolen.

The number of campus burglaries rose from 27 in 2003 to 44 in 2004, though not all of them were college equipment.

"We’ve had some [break-ins] happen in December and we’ve had some in early January," Director of College Services Donna Jones-Dulin said.

As of last week, no numbers have been released on how much the replacement of all the equipment will cost. The school is still talking things out with its insurance company, said Dean of Academic Services Christina Espinosa-Pieb.

Over the last couple of years multimedia equipment theft has been substantial and it is not determined how much money the college has lost due the thefts, Jones-Dulin said.

"It’s expensive to replace the equipment, especially in this budgetary time," she said. "It gets more expensive because we have fewer dollars to be able to replace this equipment."

There is no pattern to the break-ins, and they’ve happened in the morning, night and even mid-day, said Jones-Dulin.

The college has been implementing security measures including locks and mounts, said Jose Rueda, technical services supervisor.

Intruders manage to get around the security measures, Jones-Dulin said.

"They’ve been cutting [the security locks] and doing all that, so we’re looking to see if we can get better security devices to see if we can hold [ the equipment] in," Jones-Dulin said.

A meeting will be held this week to talk about additional security measures, Rueda said.

The theft of multimedia equipment could happen in any room on the campus that use them. One of the easiest prevention measures is to make sure windows aren’t left open, Jones-Dulin said.

There are 66 buildings on 110 acres at De Anza, and security can’t lock all the classroom doors because there isn’t enough security staff, she said.

Students can also help out in preventing future theft of multimedia equipment.

"If students see kids in a classroom where they have a class and they know they haven’t seen that student there before, they should report that," said Jones-Dulin.

"Ninety-five percent of arrests come from our concerned citizens calling in," said Officer Ben Rodriguez, director of De Anza College campus safety/security and grounds.

"There’s not much else we can do," Jones-Dulin said. "We need everyone to be alert and let us know."

"I’d hate to suspect that it was students [stealing the projectors], but the equipment is clearly being ripped off," Jones-Dulin said.