A First Step for Student Safety
Earlier this evening, the Madison Common Council passed an ordinance which I co-sponsored to help catch textbook thieves on the UW-Madison, Edgewood College and MATC campuses. This ordinance, introduced at the urging of the University Police Department, requires students to show photo identification when selling back books. Further, bookstores must now keep a log of textbooks that they purchase secondhand. When textbooks are reported stolen, the Police Department can retrieve these logs and face much better odds of identifying the perpetrator. For example, if a student reports their Chemistry 103, Physics 104 and Psychology 202 books stolen, the Police Department can check to see if those three textbooks were recently sold back and by whom. According to the Dane County District Attorney’s Office, textbook theft occurs frequently, and is unfortunately not limited to the Grainger Hall incidents from last semester. The process established tonight probably sounds familiar to most, as it is the exact procedure already followed by the University Bookstore on State Street. Here is one example of the effectiveness of this procedure, provided by Detective Peter Grimyser at UWPD:
"Zachary Miller, a former UW Student, was charged on Monday, April 30, 2007 with nine counts of misdemeanor textbook theft, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia. We were able to identify Miller through the use of the ID system already in place at the University Bookstore. Tamara Case, a former MATC student, and Miller's girlfriend was also charged with two counts of misdemeanor theft and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. It was due to the cooperation with the University Bookstore that we were able to build a strong case against Miller and ultimately get him and his girlfriend charged."
This ordinance extends the logging requirement to all area stores that earn at least 25 percent of their gross sales from textbooks. Most notably, this will make consistent the buyback procedures at the Underground Textbook Exchange, a store where thieves have historically sold stolen books for easy money. After consulting with the owner of the Underground Textbook Exchange, I offered several amendments to the original ordinance that make the new requirements less burdensome for local businesses but still effective in curbing textbook theft. For instance, instead of forcing bookstores to regularly deposit records with the Madison Police Department, the ordinance requires them to store the logs in-house and proffer them only when someone reports a theft. Also, I attached an amendment to add student identification cards to the list of acceptable IDs for secondhand sales.
A few bloggers and editorialists have expressed concerns that this ordinance will pose a threat to students’ civil liberties. With class schedules and course book lists already recorded by the university, these logs will not store any information that could be construed as private. Furthermore, it only affects the sale of used textbooks – defined narrowly as ‘a book used in technical schools, colleges and universities as a manual of instruction’ – and will not log the sale of books purchased for other reasons. Finally, I attached an amendment that restricts the storing of these records to six months, after which they will be thrown out.
I would also like to clear up the following concern raised by the Daily Cardinal Editorial Board:
"The ordinance also limits the options available for students in selling back their books. Under this ordinance, it seems as though any student who bought a textbook online or from a friend could not sell it back to a bookstore because there is no record of them ever buying it. Students often use these alternative methods of purchasing textbooks because it is cheaper. Therefore, closing off this avenue puts an undeserved burden on students as well."
In fact, this ordinance does not require students to show proof of purchase before selling books back. I completely agree that students should be allowed to purchase textbooks from other students or online, as these options often save lots of money. Requiring bookstores to keep a log of secondhand sales, however, does not at all affect the choices for purchasing textbooks. I do appreciate the Daily Cardinal’s call on students to take more personal responsibility for their possessions, as this is another important component to reducing textbook theft and crime in general.
I am very hopeful that this ordinance will help deter textbook thieves, although this remains to be seen. It is, however, safe to say that it will help catch and prosecute them. The fact that very few stolen books get sold back to University Bookstore, a store which already follows this procedure, demonstrates the effectiveness of logging second textbook sales.
During my campaign, I spent hours speaking to students at the doors about issues that mattered to them, and the frequency of crime came up again and again. This ordinance is a small but important step toward making our campus a safer place.
