Museum security tightens after donation

After a year that included four burglaries with more than $3,500 stolen, the Children's Museum of Northern Nevada might finally be a step ahead of Carson City's would-be burglars.

A video surveillance system and motion detectors were donated to the museum by the House of Drake last week. Workers from the Carson City company installed the equipment, which allows monitoring of all the major corridors in the museum's 813 North Carson St. building.

According to Bob Hunt, a museum worker, nobody can get in or out of the building without being caught on video.

"Anywhere you go, you are going to hit one of these cameras," he said. "Big Brother is watching."

In the four burglaries, suspects were identified but so far there hasn't been enough evidence to prosecute, according to Executive Director Suzi Meehan. The museum is a non-profit, private corporation and operates on a shoestring budget, which didn't allow for the purchase of a security system.

"Gene Erskine (House of Drake owner) just came in and offered it to us," she said. "It was such a great thing for him to do."

The thieves targeted a donation box in the lobby and broke into locked offices. The museum sought a security system that would prevent future burglaries, but the money was not there, and the museum had to settle for new locks on the doors.

"We don't even have a donation box anymore," Meehan said. The last robbery, committed Oct. 24, almost a year to the day after a robber stole $3,000 in donations, even targeted a parking meter. The meter was pried open and destroyed - all for a few dollars.

"I just thought it was something cute, something for the kids to play with," Meehan said of the parking meter. "It was so stupid."

The motion detectors automatically trigger the cameras in adjacent halls. From Meehan's basement office, workers can watch visitors make their way through the building. A video monitor will be installed in the lobby to remind visitors of the extra security precautions.

Procedural precautions have also been taken. Since the robbery, a safe has been installed and donations and money raised in the gift shop are not left in the building overnight.

The building is used by several groups after hours, making monitoring of the building more difficult. Eighteen keys are loaned out to the building's users.