Signs of forgiveness
For many University students, the next coolest thing to hanging posters of "Animal House" star John Belushi on bleak apartment walls is covering them with stolen street signs.
Now there is redemption.
The University Police are sponsoring an amnesty for any University student possessing street, traffic or highway signs. During November, students may bring signs to the University Police Station on 2304 Ivy Road, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., leaving them in the lobby, no questions asked.
"We know teenagers pick up signs, and this program is predominately aimed at those who did it to decorate their apartment," Police Capt. Purcell McCue said.
Most charges for stolen street signs are initiated by officers walking patrol and see the property through residential windows, McCue said.
Students who do have signs in their home are guilty of possession of stolen property and can be charged with a misdemeanor offense or, for more expensive signs, a felony offense.
"We don't ask who you are when you come in," McCue said of dropping signs off at the station. But if people do not cooperate by the end of the campaign, "we'll go to them," he said.
The success of the amnesty program has varied from year to year, sometimes bringing in 60 to 70 signs, and other years only 10 to 15. McCue did not know the number returned in this year's campaign so far.
Compiled by Josie Roberts
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