Shattered glass, a damaged interior and a stolen radar detector were the last things Trevor Grant expected to notice at his vehicle while on a recent lunch break.

More surprising to Grant is that Lot 14, the lot where his truck was parked at the University of Regina, has no cameras to show who did it.

“I came out to go to my truck to pick up something I had forgotten in there,” said Grant, a professor at the U of R School of Journalism.

“I got into my front seat and noticed that the entire passenger side window had been shattered … (Security) told me they didn’t have any security cams there. The police were quite surprised to learn that because that seems to be a standard thing for parking lots, particularly where people are coming and going all times of the day.”

Despite the inconvenience and cost that came with repairing his vehicle, Grant said his concern is that there is a lack of cameras in the high traffic area, beside Kīšik (kee-sik) Residences on the north side of campus.

“Every day I park there I think well I’m going to come back and find more damage to my truck, or somebody is going to get conked over the head or something,” Grant said.

Pat Patton, Director of Security and Operations at the U of R, said the issue of vehicle break-ins is a recent one.

“We haven’t had a lot of issues in the past in the parking lot, so it’s just not something that has bubbled up to the top of the priority list,” said Patton, adding that security is aware of the issue and is working to resolve it.

“Cameras are just one tool for us to use,” said Patton. “They are rather expensive, especially outdoor cameras … We have to really balance the funds that we have for cameras.”

Patton assures individuals that security remains in place at the U of R. Campus security also released an email to students and staff at the U of R urging individuals to not leave any valuables in vehicles, particularly in open, visible locations.

The Regina Police Service released a statement on the issue.

“In January 2019, the Regina Police Service noted a spike in reported incidents of theft from auto and mischief, which occurred between Jan. 8 and 10 at the University of Regina,” said RPS spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich in an email. “During those three days, there were six incidents of theft from auto reported as well as two mischiefs to vehicles.”

The RPS urges staff and students at the university to take precautions such as locking away valuable goods in your vehicle or removing them from plain view.

Other incidents have been reported at Lot 14.

Dominique Head, a student at the University of Regina, found her vehicle’s rear window smashed in on Dec. 1, 2018 after an evening of working.

“Usually I don’t have to worry about my vehicle and so I hadn’t checked on (it),” said Head, a third-year journalism student. “It was parked legally, it had my sign up, there was nothing in my car that I thought would’ve been worth stealing.”

Head also expressed shock after learning there were no cameras in the parking lot.

“They were like we don’t have cameras and I just said ‘are you serious?’” Head said she is reluctant to park at the University after the incident.

Patton added that campus security will look into prioritizing parking lot cameras, but questions of safety and accountability remain for Grant.

“Yeah, maybe it’s just people stealing radar detectors, but who else is there?,” said Grant. “And you’ll never know unless you’ve got cameras up. It’s just standard practice in this day and age.”