University’s most wanted list revealed
Oxford University is collaborating with the Thames Valley Police in an attempt to catch known criminals around the city, The Oxford Student has learned. ‘Operation Bursar’ is a scheme focused on a list of criminals who have been convicted of targeting students for crimes ranging from theft to assault. ‘Bursar Watch’, the name of the list itself, is distributed amongst all Oxford Colleges. Photographs of the convicted criminals are given, each of which has a number but no name.
The list began six years ago and currently includes around twelve people. Porters are instructed to look out for these known troublemakers and phone the police when they are spotted entering College property. The University Crime Reduction Officer indicated that about twelve people are currently on the list, which is updated by TVP every six months, “The sad thing is 99% of the time these people are looking to pay for drug habits through theft from students.
“After a time porters get to know who these individuals are. Operation Bursar is a good example of how close co-operation does work.” The Head Porter at Hertford College, Steve Jamieson, said, “Staff know about these people, and as soon as they’ve been identified by porters we get College security to follow the individual on CCTV, and direct the police towards them.
The TVP have fantastic coverage of CCTV round the city which the university security services can link into, so they really don’t stand a chance.” A twenty-eight year old man arrested at Wadham College last weekend on suspicion of stealing mail from a student’s pigeon-hole is believed to have been caught as part of the scheme.
A spokesperson from the Thames Valley Police confirmed that the man arrested in Wadham on Saturday is currently on police bail, but declined to comment on whether this man was linked to Operation Bursar. However, a Wadham College third year who was present at the time, overheard the porter on duty tell the police officers present, “He’s from Operation Bursar”. The student said, “The man was accusing the two policeman of punching him in the throat, and was generally causing a fuss.
He was very drunk, and seemed more concerned about getting to the night shelter than getting arrested.” Wadham College refused to comment on the matter. A spokesperson for the University Press Office said, “The University and its Colleges take safety and security of their staff and students extremely seriously. This includes ensuring that appropriate procedures are in place and cooperating closely with Thames Valley Police.
“The University and its Colleges will assist Thames Valley Police in its enquiries whenever necessary and cannot comment on ongoing enquiries.” The revelation of ‘Operation Bursar’ comes less than six months after Ian Bartlett, a 42 year old former University caretaker, was convicted of a string of burglaries from Oxford colleges that spanned two years and left dozens of domestic and foreign students out of pocket.
18th May 2006