Hear radio transmissions on MIT and Harvard University police channels, rebroadcast live from the club’s scanner in streaming MP3 format.  [ Listen in. ] Harvard Univ. & MIT Police Radio Broadcasts, http://radio.mitcrimeclub.org:8000/listen.pls.

The club’s database of incidents reported to MIT Police (01/18/2006 on) can be accessed at http://scripts.mit.edu/~crimeclub/search/mitlogs/index.php.

Jessica Fargen, MIT Kids Send Spies to Harvard: Slaying Prompts Closer Study of Campus Security, Boston Herald, June 3, 2009, at 2.
     “The MIT Crime Club hired the private eyes following the May 18 murder of Justin Cosby, 21, who police say dealt drugs to Harvard students and was shot to death at one of its residential houses.”

Charges Dismissed Against Massachusetts PI, PI Mag., Nov.–Dec. 2009, at 20.
     “In a closely watched case involving questionable arrests by [a university’s] police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a judge has dismissed all charges against an investigator and his wife.…
     “One apparent implication is that investigators may take photographs in residential areas at universities ….  Permission can be granted by an occupant of the residence hall floor.  Investigators need not obtain permission of the owner.”

Judge Sragow granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss.  Why?

The complainant gave her no reasonable basis to believe that the defendants had committed trespass.

Defendants … move to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the [prosecutors] cannot establish essential elements of the charged offenses.…  There is no merit to the charge that Defendants were trespassing.…  (Defs.’ Mot. to Dismiss 1.)

7/28/09. Motion to Dismiss is Allowed.  Roanne Sragow, J.

Judgment of Dismissal, Commonwealth v. Cadillic, No. 0952-1267 (Mass. Dist. Ct. July 28, 2009).

Which residence hall won the club’s 2008 Sparky the Fire Dog Award for Not Setting Off As Many Fire Alarms as Last Year?  Listen to the interview by House Mgr. JoeG on Droppin’ Knowledge: Wayout Report at 08:25–13:00, 25:40–29:00 (Tech. Broad. Corp., WMBR radio broadcast Apr. 30, 2009).

The Campus Crimestoppers have been trying to find a personal safety device that actually works.  We determined that chemical sprays are not a good idea if you’re facing upwind; that whistles and shriek alarms are universally ignored; and that the disorienting “tactical flashlights” are almost effective — meaning, useless.

Eventually we gave up and designed our own device, a synchronized optoacoustic “sonic flashlight.”  The Venture Mentoring Service’s business developer and the director of the Entrepreneurs Club recommended that the inventors file a provisional application.  The club also was invited to serve as the Fall 2007 study case for SEM.089/095, Starting Up New Technology-Based Business Enterprises at MIT.

A basic device description appears in our Venture Information Form, on file with VMS.  Any intrepid Sloan entrepreneurs interested in taking over?

The club was invited to nominate a candidate for the 2007 Dru Scholarship Award.  Harvard member Brittan Smith ’09 ultimately shared half of the $1,500 award for her work in introducing a reliable drink-testing kit to Harvard College administrators and students.

Administrators at Harvard and MIT have historically demonstrated their unwillingness to countenance or conceal any attempt to drug-rape one of their students.  Only at Boston University have students, namely sorority sisters, told club representatives about an ongoing problem: a BU fraternity has been spiking women’s drinks with ketamine.

The club’s distribution of a saliva-alcohol screening test strip on campus is mentioned at Admissions, Life & Community at MIT (Nov. 1, 2005).

      “[S]omeone from the Crime Club came by, … and as an added bonus gave us kits to detect dangerous drugs in cocktails or determine somebody’s blood alcohol level from their saliva.  Ken … was very happy, because as an ASA person he allocated money to the crime club, so he appreciated that the money was actually being put to good use ….”

The club has discovered a case of criminal domain-name infringement apparently committed by or for the Republic of Sudan (جمهورية السودان).  SPLMToday.com, “The Official Website of the SPLM,” is a counterfeit site meant to discredit the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the governing party of Southern Sudan.  View an archival copy of the site as it appeared Dec. 10, 2007 and see how many clues you can find.  (Example: The banner logo reads “Sudan People Liberation Movement”.)

Relevant correspondence from U.S. Dept. of State to MIT Crime Club (2008) provided upon request.

DOS forwarded the club’s information to SPLM and within a week the site owner deleted the active identity-phishing content.  The site remained passive for about a year; however the current version appears to ba a felony violation of the federal Wire Fraud Act.  This case is OPEN for investigation.

Club president Marjan Rafat ’06 (Harvard PhD ’11) served as the 2005–06 Police Log Compiler at The Tech and went on to become the first Police Log Compiler for MIT & Harvard at the Cambridge Chronicle.

See, e.g., M. Rafat with other MIT Crime Club members, Police Log, Tech, Apr. 28, 2006, at 13; M. Rafat & J. Herms with other MIT Crime Club members, Police Log, Tech, July 7, 2006, at 10; D. Witlin & M. Rafat, Crime Watch, Cambridge Chron., Sept. 13, 2006.

IAP 2006
Campus Safety Workshop
Marjan Rafat and Laura Sutton — coordinators

The MIT Crime Club is a group of MIT students interested in campus safety.  Along with publishing weekly excerpts from the MIT police logs in The Tech, the Crime Club seeks to improve campus life by proposing and implementing projects and programs designed to reduce students’ risks of being victimized.

Features of the workshop:

• Throughout the afternoon, we will be providing safety devices such as personal safety alarms and Drink Detective test kits (which test beverages for the presence of common date-rape drugs).
• Daniel Carter, senior vice president of Security On Campus, will be speaking.  He has gotten more campus safety bills enacted than any other individual in the country.
• We will also be presenting new data on the property theft rates at local schools.  (Which Boston area campus has the highest reported theft rate?  Is it getting better or worse?)
• We have recently mapped patterns of crimes around local campuses, and we will be making these maps available to students.

The Crime Club was organized by Margeaux Randolph ’05, Adora Asala ’05, and Shavonne Nyoka Hylton ’05, with assistance from Daniel McAnulty ’05 and Marjan Rafat ’06.  It was approved by the Association of Student Activities as a recognized student group on April 19, 2005.  ASA Student Group Detail.

Questions about the club or its projects?  Wire  crimeclub@mit.edu .