Courier

Media Credit: Michael Lee A student reaches to grab a drink at the Coffee Break café.

Thefts in the Coffee Break café are still an "everyday" occurrence according to Manager Montree Keavomalee, even though he said they have reduced over the years.

"It's normal, it happens every year, every semester," said General Manager Charles Siri. According to Siri, stealing from the cafeteria is most common when the semester first begins, with the crowds opening opportunities for theft.

"We [have dealt] with these matters many times already," he said. "But if we have someone in there to watch it, it will reduce it, it will take care of it," said Siri.

According to Siri, the primary way to prevent theft is to have people watching the customers because students do not really consider the cameras that are placed within the café.

"Since we put the cadets in there, it kind of reduces it. When they see that we have cadets in there [it helps]," said Siri.

In the years that the Coffee Break café has been around, thefts have decreased due to the heightened security measures that have been taken. Along with the security measures, workers in the café have also gained experience in handling situations involving theft.

The recently posted signs and the cadets keeping surveillance are all measures to prevent any potential theft.

"We try to prevent it. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't," Siri said.

"It's not a day-to-day occurrence," said PCC Police Officer Robert Karch. They are "no more common than thefts in the library," he said.

Believing a uniform presence to be a form of deterrence, Karch said: "We walk in there on a frequent basis. We talk to employees, we talk to customers."

Cashier Sathita Jirapongsakul feels that the crowds during busy hours make it difficult for cashiers to keep an eye on every customer.

"When it's a busy time, I can't see around," she said.

According to Siri, further training is required to make the café staff aware of how to deal with theft situations.

"Sometimes the employee, they saw it, they just don't know how to deal with it. We need to keep training them on how to deal with that," he said.

Although thefts, according to them, occur on a daily basis, both Siri and Keavomalee continue to remain understanding when dealing with students.

When students are caught attempting to steal, they are simply asked to pay for what they were going to take.

"We understand they are still [kids]," said Siri.

"We don't want to ruin their future," added Keavomalee.

"The only way that we can stop this is that we keep watching them. If they see people watching them, they will stop and if we keep doing this, it will reduce less and less and less."

You can't stop it, you can only reduce and prevent it, he said.

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