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| website = [http://mitcrimeclub.org MITCrimeClub.org]
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The '''MIT Crime Club''' is a student group founded in 2005 at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. It publishes police-log compilations and rebroadcasts police radio transmissions online. In 2009 it hired a private detective to investigate a murder in a Harvard dormitory. The detective and his companion were arrested by Harvard police. The trial court ruled that the prosecution had no case. The ruling was interpreted as implying that a student resident can give a private investigator legal permission to enter a dormitory. In 2011 the local city council voted to thank the club's membership for certain achievements in improving public safety.
The '''MIT Crime Club''' was<ref name="asa" /> a student group founded in 2005 at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. It published police-log compilations and rebroadcasts police radio transmissions online. In 2009 it hired a private detective to investigate a murder in a Harvard dormitory. The detective and his companion were arrested by Harvard police. The trial court ruled that the prosecution had no case. The ruling was interpreted as implying that a student resident can give a private investigator legal permission to enter a dormitory. In 2011 the local city council voted to thank the club's membership for certain achievements in improving public safety. The group was derecognized by the university in 2012<ref name="asa" />.


== History ==
== History ==
Line 23: Line 23:
== Activities ==
== Activities ==


The club compiles incident reports from police logs and constructs crime maps.<ref name="schwartz" /> Members have written periodical police-log compilations for MIT's newspaper, [[The Tech (newspaper)|''The Tech'']].<ref>{{cite news |title=Police log |first=Marjan |last=Rafat |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V126/PDF/N2.pdf |newspaper=The Tech |location=MIT |date=February 10, 2006 |page=17 |quote=Compiled … with assistance from other members of the MIT Crime Club. }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=25 colleges with the worst crime rankings |url= http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2009/09/16/25-colleges-with-the-worst-crime-rankings.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Beast]] | location=N.Y.C. |date=September 16, 2010 |at=Gallery, no. 5 }}</ref>
The club compiled incident reports from police logs and constructs crime maps.<ref name="schwartz" /> Members have written periodical police-log compilations for MIT's newspaper, [[The Tech (newspaper)|''The Tech'']].<ref>{{cite news |title=Police log |first=Marjan |last=Rafat |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V126/PDF/N2.pdf |newspaper=The Tech |location=MIT |date=February 10, 2006 |page=17 |quote=Compiled … with assistance from other members of the MIT Crime Club. }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=25 colleges with the worst crime rankings |url= http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2009/09/16/25-colleges-with-the-worst-crime-rankings.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Beast]] | location=N.Y.C. |date=September 16, 2010 |at=Gallery, no. 5 }}</ref>


In 2005 the club began rebroadcasting MIT, [[Harvard University Police Department|Harvard]], and [[Cambridge Police Department (Massachusetts)|City of Cambridge]] police radio transmissions online, on Radio WIGGUM.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harvard radio stations |year=2013 |work=SHOUTcast radio directory |publisher=Nullsoft |url=http://www.shoutcast.com/Internet-Radio/Harvard |quote=Harvard & MIT police - Radio WIGGUM - MIT Crime Club scanner }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Crime Club police-radio scanner |year=2013 |publisher=MIT Crime Club |url= http://mitcrimeclub.org/scanner.html }}</ref>
In 2005 the club began rebroadcasting MIT, [[Harvard University Police Department|Harvard]], and [[Cambridge Police Department (Massachusetts)|City of Cambridge]] police radio transmissions online, on Radio WIGGUM.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harvard radio stations |year=2013 |work=SHOUTcast radio directory |publisher=Nullsoft |url=http://www.shoutcast.com/Internet-Radio/Harvard |quote=Harvard & MIT police - Radio WIGGUM - MIT Crime Club scanner }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Crime Club police-radio scanner |year=2013 |publisher=MIT Crime Club |url= http://mitcrimeclub.org/scanner.html }}</ref>
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In September 2011 the [[Cambridge, Massachusetts#Government|Cambridge City Council]] adopted a resolution thanking the MIT club's membership for serving as police log compilers at ''The Tech'' and the ''Chronicle'', sponsoring bicycle theft-prevention workshops, and the like.<blockquote>Club members have for six years furnished MIT students with technology and data of value in safeguarding their persons and property....&nbsp; The City Council ... thank[s] the ... Campus Crimestoppers for their achievements in making their campus and the City ... a safer ... environment for students.<ref name="cambridge">{{Cite report |date=September 26, 2011 |title=R-37 |url=http://mitcrimeclub.org/camres37.pdf |publisher=Cambridge City Council |type=Resolution }}</ref></blockquote>
In September 2011 the [[Cambridge, Massachusetts#Government|Cambridge City Council]] adopted a resolution thanking the MIT club's membership for serving as police log compilers at ''The Tech'' and the ''Chronicle'', sponsoring bicycle theft-prevention workshops, and the like.<blockquote>Club members have for six years furnished MIT students with technology and data of value in safeguarding their persons and property....&nbsp; The City Council ... thank[s] the ... Campus Crimestoppers for their achievements in making their campus and the City ... a safer ... environment for students.<ref name="cambridge">{{Cite report |date=September 26, 2011 |title=R-37 |url=http://mitcrimeclub.org/camres37.pdf |publisher=Cambridge City Council |type=Resolution }}</ref></blockquote>


The club maintains the Harvard University Security, Parking, and Museum Guards Union site, ''HUSPMGU.org''.<ref>{{cite web |title=HUSPMGU: Harvard University Security, Parking and Museum Guards Union |work=Huspmgu.org |publisher=HUSPMGU |date=2013 |url=http://huspmgu.org/index.html |quote=''Huspmgu.org'' is one of the two official websites of the Harvard University ... Guards Union....&nbsp; MIT Crime Club has sole responsibility for maintaining the site. }}</ref>
The club maintained the Harvard University Security, Parking, and Museum Guards Union site, ''HUSPMGU.org''.<ref>{{cite web |title=HUSPMGU: Harvard University Security, Parking and Museum Guards Union |work=Huspmgu.org |publisher=HUSPMGU |date=2013 |url=http://huspmgu.org/index.html |quote=''Huspmgu.org'' is one of the two official websites of the Harvard University ... Guards Union....&nbsp; MIT Crime Club has sole responsibility for maintaining the site. }}</ref>


== Finances ==
== Finances ==


The club has used disbursements by MIT's Association of Student Activities<ref name="maurer" /> and donations from MIT alumni<ref name="schwartz" /> to pay its project expenses. The MIT Alumni Association maintains an MIT Crime Club Fund to support the group's "public-safety initiatives".<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Crime Club Fund| url=https://giving.mit.edu/givenow/search-designations.dyn?keyword=MIT%20Crime%20Club |work=Giving to MIT |publisher=MIT |quote=Designation:&nbsp; MIT Crime Club Fund (''2721276'').&nbsp; Gifts to support the club’s public-safety initiatives. }}</ref>
The club used disbursements by MIT's Association of Student Activities<ref name="maurer" /> and donations from MIT alumni<ref name="schwartz" /> to pay its project expenses.


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 07:22, 1 October 2013

MIT Crime Club
FormationDecember 23, 2005
TypeStudent organization
PurposePublic safety
Parent organization
MIT
WebsiteMITCrimeClub.org

The MIT Crime Club was[1] a student group founded in 2005 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It published police-log compilations and rebroadcasts police radio transmissions online. In 2009 it hired a private detective to investigate a murder in a Harvard dormitory. The detective and his companion were arrested by Harvard police. The trial court ruled that the prosecution had no case. The ruling was interpreted as implying that a student resident can give a private investigator legal permission to enter a dormitory. In 2011 the local city council voted to thank the club's membership for certain achievements in improving public safety. The group was derecognized by the university in 2012[1].

History

The MIT Crime Club was founded in spring 2005[2] and became a recognized MIT student group on December 23, 2005.[1][3]

On June 2, 2009, a Boston Globe correspondent reported that MIT's news office said MIT did not know of any crime club at the school.[4] The publisher of MIT Technology Review sent the club an e-mail message saying that the Globe had "misrepresented" the office.[5]

In spring 2011, the club's membership included seven MIT students and one Harvard student.[1][6]

Activities

The club compiled incident reports from police logs and constructs crime maps.[2] Members have written periodical police-log compilations for MIT's newspaper, The Tech.[7][8]

In 2005 the club began rebroadcasting MIT, Harvard, and City of Cambridge police radio transmissions online, on Radio WIGGUM.[9][10]

In 2009 the club awarded an MIT dormitory a "Sparky the Fire Dog Award for Not Setting Off As Many Fire Alarms as Last Year".[2][11]

The club has tried to develop improvements on a saliva-test device used for determining blood alcohol content.[2][12]

In May 2009 the club hired a private detective to investigate security at Harvard University after a marijuana dealer was shot to death in a dormitory basement there. The detective and his companion were arrested by campus police on charges of breaking and entering and trespass.[2][4][6] In July 2009 the Cambridge District Court ruled that the prosecution had no case.[13][14][15]

PI Magazine, a trade journal, said of the ruling:

One apparent implication is that investigators may take photographs in residential common areas at universities without being subject to immediate arrest. Permission can be granted by an occupant of the residence hall floor. Investigators need not obtain permission of the owner.[14]

Influence

In 2006 a former president became the Cambridge Chronicle's first "Police Log Compiler for MIT and Harvard".[16]

In January 2010, Harvard students "looking to MIT's Crime Club as an example" organized the Harvard College Crime Club.[17] The club was recognized by the college's Office of Student Life in November 2010.[18][19]

In September 2011 the Cambridge City Council adopted a resolution thanking the MIT club's membership for serving as police log compilers at The Tech and the Chronicle, sponsoring bicycle theft-prevention workshops, and the like.

Club members have for six years furnished MIT students with technology and data of value in safeguarding their persons and property....  The City Council ... thank[s] the ... Campus Crimestoppers for their achievements in making their campus and the City ... a safer ... environment for students.[20]

The club maintained the Harvard University Security, Parking, and Museum Guards Union site, HUSPMGU.org.[21]

Finances

The club used disbursements by MIT's Association of Student Activities[12] and donations from MIT alumni[2] to pay its project expenses.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Crime Club, MIT". Association of Student Activities. MIT. January 23, 2012. MIT Student Groups.  4 Undergraduates • 3 Graduate Students • 2 MIT Community • 1 Other
  2. ^ a b c d e f Schwartz, Jason (August 2009). "The Case of the Gumshoe Geeks: The curious MIT club that's taken on a murder investigation as an afterschool project". Boston Magazine. pp. 62–63.
  3. ^ ASA Executive Board (April 19, 2005). "Minutes" (PDF). Association of Student Activities. MIT. Voting on groups
  4. ^ a b Nierstedt, Jenna (June 2, 2009). "Trespassing alleged at dorm" (PDF). Boston Globe. p. B7. Archived from the original on 2009-06-08. An MIT crime club itself spawned criminal charges last weekend when two private investigators apparently hired by the group were arrested ... after Harvard University police found the two taking photos inside the dorm....  An MIT spokeswoman said she knew of no school crime club. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Jason Pontin (publisher, MIT Technology Review) (June 2, 2009). "E-mail message to MIT Crime Club" (PDF). We cannot comment any more to the press about this matter — although we agree, of course, that the Globe misrepresented Patti.
  6. ^ a b Fargen, Jessica (June 3, 2009). "MIT kids send spies to Harvard: Slaying prompts closer study of campus security" (PDF). Boston Herald. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2009-06-04. 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. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Rafat, Marjan (February 10, 2006). "Police log" (PDF). The Tech. MIT. p. 17. Compiled … with assistance from other members of the MIT Crime Club.
  8. ^ "25 colleges with the worst crime rankings". The Daily Beast. N.Y.C. September 16, 2010. Gallery, no. 5.
  9. ^ "Harvard radio stations". SHOUTcast radio directory. Nullsoft. 2013. Harvard & MIT police - Radio WIGGUM - MIT Crime Club scanner
  10. ^ "MIT Crime Club police-radio scanner". MIT Crime Club. 2013.
  11. ^ "2008 Sparky the Fire Dog Award" (PDF). MIT Crime Club. April 30, 2009.
  12. ^ a b Maurer, Sam (November 1, 2005). "MIT Marching Band blog entry". MIT Admissions Office. MIT.
  13. ^ Commonwealth v. Cadillic, No. 09-52CR1267, Judgment of Dismissal (Mass. Dist. Ct. dismissed July 28, 2009) ("Motion to Dismiss is allowed.").
  14. ^ a b "Charges dismissed against Massachusetts PI". PI Magazine. Freehold, N.J. November–December 2009. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-02-17. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Convey, Eric (May 23, 2012). "Private eye who probed Harvard shooting sues college". Boston Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2012-05-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Crime Watch". Cambridge Chronicle. September 14, 2006. p. 5. Marjan Rafat, police log compiler for MIT and Harvard.
  17. ^ Yu, Xi (January 30, 2010). "CSI: Harvard". Harvard Crimson Flyby Blog.
  18. ^ "Harvard College Crime Club". Student Organizations. Harvard University Faculty of Arts & Sciences. September 15, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-11-22. Harvard College Crime Club is an autonomous organization... {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "HarvardCrimeClub Info". HCS Mailing Lists. Harvard University Faculty of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2013-06-01. An interest group that aims to provide an outlet for people interested in the study of crime, law enforcement, or criminal justice, by providing panels, speakers, events...
  20. ^ R-37 (PDF) (Resolution). Cambridge City Council. September 26, 2011.
  21. ^ "HUSPMGU: Harvard University Security, Parking and Museum Guards Union". Huspmgu.org. HUSPMGU. 2013. Huspmgu.org is one of the two official websites of the Harvard University ... Guards Union....  MIT Crime Club has sole responsibility for maintaining the site.
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