The master keys to CLXF, the largest freshman residence hall, were declared missing on Sunday afternoon by staff members of the Office of Residential Life. "We discovered the keys missing on Sunday afternoon and immediately contacted BCPD," said Henry Humphreys, director of the Office of Residential Life. "We conducted our own investigation which turned up no results.
At that point, BCPD launched an investigation." The Boston College Police Department investigation is still ongoing. The keys open every door in CLXF, which comprises the Claver, Loyola, Xavier, and Fenwick residence halls.
Residential Life uses the keys to access rooms during health and safety inspections and during emergencies. BC police officers, in conjunction with Office of Residential Life staff, patrolled the building until all the locks were reconfigured on Tuesday. Officials were concerned with the threat to people's property and did not believe that there was a serious threat to the safety of students.
"The keys were reported stolen to the BCPD at 2:20 a.m. on Monday morning," said BCPD Chief Robert Morse.
"Extra patrols started within two hours after the keys were reported stolen and were continued until the locks were changed during the hours of darkness," Morse said. Humphreys was not sure of the exact cost of the lock replacement. "It depends on if we had the cores in stock or if we had to purchase them," he said.
Students, however, were not made aware of the situation. Resident Director Austin Ashe simply told residents in an e-mail obtained by The Heights not to mind facilities workers changing locks. The e-mail read: "So if you hear one of our facilities folks outside your door there's no need for alarm, they are just doing some work on the doors.
" Humphreys said: "We couldn't tell them that they were stolen because we don't know. We can't tell them that they were lost either. Given the long weekend, the majority of the residents were away.
Given the situation, I think the response was appropriate … concern was around the safety of property.
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