Five locker thefts at Ethos
Since the belated opening less than a month ago, there have been an astounding five reported thefts from the lockers of Imperial's new sports centre. The facility boasts state of the art equipment, including a high-tech locker system which, once activated, can only be accessed by re-entering their personal security code. In spite of this apparently secure procedure, there have been a surprising number of incidents in which members have returned from the gym only to find their possessions stolen.
In each incident there have been no signs of a forced entry, and College believe that either the victim failed to secure the locker correctly or the thief oversaw the victim entering their individual PIN number. However, both of these scenarios are unlikely to account for this high number of thefts in such a short period. Speculation abounds that Ethos staff members could be under suspicion as it is alleged that numerous members of staff had access to a master code which can open all lockers.
One victim, James Pedder, a second year Civil Engineering student, visited Ethos around 12 noon last Friday, 17 February, to make use of the centre's 25m five-lane swimming pool. After his work out, Pedder returned to the changing rooms and re-opened his locker with the combination he had used to activate the lock just 40 minutes earlier. He told Felix, "I came back from my swim and opened my locker with the same code; all my stuff had gone - the locker had been emptied and relocked."
Pedder's locker contained over £1,000 worth of valuables, including his newly purchased 30GB iPod, Weismann watch, mobile phone, house keys and wallet, not to mention his towel and clothes. Pedder immediately alerted the swimming pool lifeguard, who was very helpful, checking the surrounding lockers and running through a series of security questions to establish the circumstances. Security staff were called from the adjacent Weeks Hall of Residence but took approximately 15 minutes to respond and did little to resolve the situation, questioning how well Pedder knew his flatmate and somewhat offensively inferring that his friend may have been responsible for the crime. Pedder asked whether the CCTV footage might be reviewed, considering the high value of the items stolen. He was told that as the theft was the first of the day, they were unsure whether this would be possible. After some time waiting around the changing rooms in his wet swimming shorts, Pedder was eventually offered a t-shirt and went up to the café. A couple of hours passed with little acknowledgement from Ethos employees or security staff, so Pedder contacted security directly and eventually got a taxi home.
Felix contacted College for comment on these alarming incidents and we were told, "All instances are being investigated, and CCTV and access control systems are being interrogated. This is quite a labour intensive operation and takes some time and there is also no guarantee that the results will be conclusive."
Pedder and the four other victims have stated that, to their knowledge, there was no one standing in close proximity whilst they operated the locker's security keypad and therefore it would seem highly unlikely that the thefts were carried out by a fellow gym member. College have suggested that the thefts may be occurring due to member's inability to fully rotate the locking mechanism of the storage units, explaining that "staff have checked certain lockers and found that when the instructions are followed for the locking procedure, there is a `click' - however the knob must then be turned to complete the process. It is possible that some customers are not completing the locking process in the belief that the locker is locked when they hear the click, leaving the locker vulnerable to opportunist theft." However, Pedder is adamant that in his case, the locker was firmly secured, explaining that the handle juts out as the lock is turned so you can be sure when the door is securely fastened.
Felix has been informed by two members of College staff that "everyone had access to the mastercodes, until a few days ago". We contacted the College to investigate the level of staff access to the master codes and we were told that, "in the event that customers forget their code or cannot recall their locker, there is the ability to open lockers using a closely-guarded master code. This is changed frequently and is known only by senior staff on duty." However, Pedder's locker was opened by a lifeguard, not a senior member of staff. College have told us that in some instances, "for example if the senior member of staff for a particular area is male and there is a locker problem in the women's changing rooms, a female member of staff would be deputised to deal with it and would therefore be given access to the code."
Felix attempted to further question Ethos employees with regard to staff knowledge of the master code, but our questions were cut short by the Centre Manager who explained that all staff members had "no comment to give on the situation".
Following an inspection of the changing rooms, Felix discovered that there are no official signs stating that Ethos does not accept responsibility for the theft of personal items from lockers. Signs such as these are commonplace in sport changing environments; does their absence imply that Ethos does, in fact, take responsibility for such losses? In reply to this question, College stated, "while Ethos takes security very seriously, it does not take responsibility for property lost or stolen and signs stating that all property is left at the owner's risk will shortly be put up".
Rupert Neate, Editor
Felix's View:
Imperial's new sports centre has come under fire again this week as a result of a spate of thefts from lockers. Despite the centre having very sophisticated PIN code lockers, there have already been five reported thefts since the longawaited opening late last month.
College's explanation that the thefts occurred as a result of students failing to fully complete the locking process seems unlikely to cover all incidents of theft. This is also the case for the suggestion that others in the changing room may have observed the victims setting their PIN.
Felix has been unable to ascertain which members of staff had access to the lockers' mastercode. Circumstantial evidence suggests that a number of Ethos staff had access to these codes. It is suspicious that the sports centre management prevented Felix from talking to members of staff about access to the master code.
Whilst we are aware that a full investigation into these incidents is under way, we believe that a full independent review of sports centre security needs to be undertaken. Ethos need to provide evidence of exactly who had access to the mastercodes.
Felix discovered that Ethos does not display signs declaring that "items are left in lockers at your own risk". As a direct result of questions placed by Felix, the sports centre is now planning to display these signs. Does the absence of this notice make Ethos liable for these losses? We attempted to look into the legality of this matter but looming deadlines cut short our legal investigations. Rest assured, we have asked a lawyer to investigate the matter and will report back next week.
Felix would like to make it clear that we do not have a vendetta against the sports centre.
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