Security at DuBois is stepped up

Several phones are tapped The University has taken several steps to ensure the safety of students living in DuBois College House, including the tapping of several students' telephones. During the week of October 10, several racially harassing phone calls and bomb threats were made to DuBois House. The calls forced the evacuation of DuBois House and a short-term ban on non-residents. In response to the calls and threats, the University has taken or is taking the following steps: · There is an on-going University Police investigation. The Philadelphia Police Department Conflict Resolution Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are assisting. · University Police and Bell of Pennsylvania have put call tracers on the telephone lines of the harassed students, and work is being done to install similar devices on all campus phones. · Security improvements such as the installation of assault alarms and better basement lighting have been made to DuBois House. · University Counseling Center and Victim Support and Special Services were called to provide support for traumatized students. University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said last night he is "very pleased" with the help police have received from Bell of Pennsylvania. "We contacted Bell Telephone to put traditional kinds of tracers on lines that we had identified and we went to our own telecommunications company to see what else could be done," Kuprevich said. "Priority was placed on people's safety and being able to either stop or apprehend those responsible. In times of crisis and times of need within a community, it's nice to see a truly cooperative effort to solve the problem," he added. Phone taps are also being placed on phones in Stouffer College House, Graduate Towers and "two or three other residences" where harassing phone calls have been received. The phone taps are especially unique, Kuprevich said, because a person must typically receive several harassing phone calls before a tap can be installed on the line. Students who receive just one phone call are now eligible for tracing devices, and University Police will attempt to get warrants if any one location or person is identified. University spokesperson Barbara Beck said last night that phone taps are difficult to obtain. She said it was her "hunch" that University officials "pushed and it was done because the urgency of the situation necessitated that it had to be done." Kuprevich said beginning the night of the first harassing calls, an officer was stationed outside and in the area around the building. Additionally, Victim Support officers have been working closely with DuBois residents at night, advising them of how to respond to such calls in the future. Kuprevich said the University Police investigation – which is difficult to assess because telephone harassment is such an anonymous crime – is still open, and the telephone taps should help. "The phone is a wonderful device that makes life very easy, but it can also be used as an anonymous weapon," he said. "[People] can threaten at no risk. Now there's a risk."