Students in Exchange Residence are concerned about the occurrence of widespread laundry theft.
Exchange resident Aditya Bendale said that laundry theft has been occurring since last October. More recently, complaints about laundry theft have surged on Facebook.
“A lot of people have been posting on the Exchange [Facebook] group. That’s why it has gathered a lot more attention and momentum,” Bendale said.
Bendale said that residents were advised by residence management to set a timer for their batch of laundry in order to remind them to retrieve their laundry before theft might occur.
But Bendale claims that setting a timer is not enough for preventing theft. The dryer can be opened mid-cycle, and Bendale thinks that clothes are often stolen before residents’ timers go off to collect their laundry.
Associate Director of Residence Life in Student Housing and Community Services (SHCS) Sean Ryan wrote in a statement that SHHS has seen “more than the typical number of reports” of laundry theft from Exchange Residence.
“As a result we put chairs in the laundry room so residents can stay and wait or we suggest they use an adjacent study room,” Ryan wrote.
But Bendale said that this isn’t an ideal solution.
“That [solution] doesn’t really work since the laundry cycle can last more than an hour, and some of us need a quiet place to study,” Bendale said.
Exchange resident Mehtab Chhina alleges that someone stole his bedsheets and a pillowcase back in January, as they were missing when he went to pick up his laundry.
Chhina agreed with Bendale that a major problem with the Exchange laundry room is that dryers can be opened mid-cycle — something he said hasn’t been the case in other residences he has lived in.
Chhina proposed that cameras be installed inside the laundry room, or at the very least, positioned facing the entrance. He also suggested the possibility of installing locks on the drying machines as a secondary measure.
As for potential privacy concerns around installing cameras, Chhina believes most residents would be fine with it.
“I think that 90 per cent of students wouldn’t mind there being cameras in the laundry room. Our belongings are there, it would make sense,” Chhina said.
SHCS did not comment on the possibility of adding cameras, but Ryan said the department have communicated with Exchange residents about being aware of what others around them are doing.
“Residents use their keycard to access the locked laundry room. Staff have been working through our systems to see if a particular keycard appears to have been used during the reported theft times,” Ryan said.
“We ask affected students to contact us immediately if they notice missing laundry items, or if they witness a crime in progress to call 911.”