Property crimes are more likely to occur in a parking structure, said campus safety chief John Ojeisekhoba. Security measures including nine cameras in obvious places, emergency call boxes on every floor, good lighting and regular patrolling of the structure have been carefully planned by Campus Safety officers. Ojeisekhoba said students should call Campus Safety immediately if any suspicious activity is spotted.

“We encourage students to assist us by not leaving personal valuables in plain sight,” Ojeisekhoba said, mentioning GPS systems as well as laptops and wallets.

Ojeisekhoba also emphasized that students should lock their car doors.

“Would-be property criminals have moved away from smash and grab,” he said. “They realize that some people don’t lock the doors to their vehicle and they just pull the handle.”

The lowest crime year on record for Biola’s Campus Safety department was 2010, despite property crimes rapidly rising in the surrounding city of La Mirada.

“You have to try to think like a bad guy,” Ojeisekhoba said, noting new proactive measures including 25 new cameras that will be installed around campus and increased monitoring of the footage by the dispatch center.

This semester, the entrance gatehouses will also be staffed from 7:30 a.m. to 5 a.m., with the gate arms coming down at 5:00 p.m.

“Stuff will happen, no matter how much you put in,” Ojeisekhoba said. “But it’s a matter of the volume.”