Library visitor "fast pass" helping to reduce theft

Students who leave their tiny cubicles at Van Pelt Library to take a quick study break normally run the risk of coming back to find their belongings stolen.

However, with a new partnership between the library and the Division of Public Safety, in addition to shortened hours for non-Penn affiliated visitors, theft at Van Pelt has been on the decline.

DPS and the library have been piloting a new visitor management system machine since last September, called “fast pass.”

The machine scans visitors’ IDs and uploads the information onto a digital archive. It also takes an additional picture of individuals when they enter the library. It then prints out a badge for the visitor to wear with their picture, name and a time stamp.

Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said a female student recently had her things stolen, but DPS was able to retrieve pictures of non-Penn affiliated visitors to the library. The student was then able to identify an individual who had been sitting near her and was acting suspiciously. The individual was apprehended the following day and the student retrieved her belongings.

The library is using the machine to check in visitors “from an investigative stand-point,” Rush said.

The library also shortened its visiting hours in September in an effort to reduce incidents.

The new visitor hours are now 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Before, visitors could stay until 9 p.m., according to Director of Public Services for Penn Libraries Marjorie Hassen.

The new machine and visiting hours have caused a significant decrease in crime, Rush said. “It’s been night and day from one to two thefts for the whole year versus double digits last year.”

Van Pelt was specifically chosen for the “fast pass” pilot because it has the largest amount of visitors, Rush said.

Due to several public federal archives within Van Pelt, the library must be open to non-Penn card holders. Therefore, DPS worked to tailor their rules “to fit the need of the law.”

The size of Van Pelt is also conducive to crime, according to Rush. “It’s a place you can become anonymous,” she said.

Last year, DPS tried to combat library theft by excluding non-Penn affiliates from Van Pelt during spring Reading Days. The decrease in theft during this time period suggested that perpetrators were coming from “the outside,” Rush said.

Library security before the fast pass system wasn’t readily available or technologically efficient, according to Director of Security Services Cherie Heller. Before, visitors’ IDs could be photographed by a digital camera, but there was no archival database to store the images.

Rush added the machine has been very successful, and they have every intention of keeping it.

Though the program is still in its pilot, DPS Associate Director for Technology and Emergency Communications David Kern said the technology is “fully functional as if it weren’t a pilot.”

“We’re working with library administrations to make full security audits for all libraries,” Heller said.

DPS will continue to assess the operational use of each building and its needs. She added, “You don’t want to put technology in just to say we put technology in.”

However, this isn’t the “one silver bullet” solution, Rush said. “Our community members being astute coupled with technology is the success point.”

Hassen said the new technology has been successful.

“We want to be open. We are available to help the public and community — we just want everyone to be aware of the fact that there are a variety of individuals in the building,” she said.

The new technology allows Van Pelt to have “better control of who’s coming into the building.”

“The more precise information we have on the visitor the better,” she added.

In the future, other buildings on campus may also install the fast pass system. This pilot is part of Operation Building Safe — a larger initiative to make campus buildings more secure.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.