A warning of a voyeur, or possibly more than one, has been issued for the University of British Columbia.
According to a broadcast statement by the Acting Director of Campus Security, Ali Mojdehi, security has received several reports of an intruder in Place Vanier and Totem Park, both first-year residence buildings. These reports “include varying witness descriptions of an intruder (or intruders) looking through unlocked residence room doors at partially clothed female students.”
Security received a total of four reports of a voyeur, all of which came from guests in the residences, said RCMP Sergeant Drew Grainger. The issue is currently an active case for the RCMP, and they have been stationed around the residences to augment the usual security presence.
When asked how long the RCMP would remain around Totem and Vanier, Grainger said "until we feel … that we no longer need to be there."
In addition to the increased police presence, the security company Agilent has been hired for the time being to help with patrols.
According to CTV, RCMP say the reports describe intrusions on dorm rooms, shower areas and washrooms, all at early morning hours.
According to Barry Eccleton, director of Campus Security, the voyeur was able to enter bedroom areas due to guests leaving doors unlocked. In the case of shower areas and bathrooms, Eccleton believes the intruder followed people in.
"[The incident] was on the weekend, I think it was either Saturday night or Sunday morning," said Eccleton. "Straight after the incident occurred we were informed and we quickly acted upon it and got extra security down there."
A complete subject description has yet to be obtained, and police are unsure if they are looking for more than one perpetrator.
"We’re still developing a subject profile…we have varying descriptions of perpetrators or possible perpetrators and we have yet to determine how many people," said Grainger.
When asked whether security has ever encounter the problem of voyeurism in residence buildings before, Eccleton said "these are ongoing issues with residence.... There's been incidents of people looking in windows and that sort of stuff, so it's nothing new to the university and pretty not uncommon for residences at universities. But, having said that, we do act upon it when we’re contacted and engage the RCMP as well."
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