Here are just a couple of reasons why Sorority and Frat houses need security.
An unforgettable episode of It Takes a Thief is the one called "Big Burglar on Campus." Reformed burglars Matt Johnston and Jon Douglas Rainey targeted a fraternity house populated by 30 "meatheads," as Johnston described them.
Even though they had been robbed twice, the fraternity’s officers had done almost nothing to improve security. Two of the house’s three doors could easily be opened by anyone with enough hand-eye coordination to push or pull. The fire escape exit was usually left open, plus one window was completely missing. Instead there was a gaping hole in the wall covered by a black trash bag.
To pull off the robbery, Rainey had an attractive woman pose as a college student looking for a fraternity brother. She distracted the beer-guzzling frat boys at the front door long enough to let him amble up the fire escape and into the house. Dressed in baggy cargo shorts, baseball hat on backwards, and carrying a backpack, the youthful-looking Rainey easily wandered the halls unchallenged as he kicked open door after door.
Viewing all this on a live camera hookup, the fraternity officers watched in horror as Jon cleaned their rooms out of anything valuable: the president's keys to all the brothers' rooms; the treasurer's lockbox containing about $1,000 of fraternity money, the frat's checkbook and a couple of laptops.
As part of the security makeover, the building got new locks on the outside and inside doors and an actual window where the trash bag had been. But the real test came on the surprise return visit, when Rainey tried to break in again. (He estimates he has been successful getting back into about 40 percent of the houses the show has renovated. Even after being robbed, some people drop their guard.) When Rainey went back to the frat house around 7 one morning he found, to his amazement, the house was locked up tight and he could not get in. He banged on the doors to congratulate the brothers. Some of them were sound asleep at that hour. Groggy, they mumbled their thanks and stumbled back to bed."
As noted in the above article one of the biggest security issue for sororities is the flow of people constantly coming and going. This makes it very easy for an unknown person to enter the house without anyone taking notice. To make matters worse, when sororities host parties, especially during the warmer months, the house becomes extremely vulnerable to intrusions. As enjoyable as parties are, someone needs to take responsibility and look out for the property during these situations and after the party whenever thinks everything and everyone is safe. Not necessarily so. This time is especially venerable on many fronts. A system to monitor fire, systems and room security is critical.
