A UNM administrator says everything is being done to make sure users of the Health Sciences Library are safe while police and library staffers keep their eyes open for any suspects in a series of indecent exposures.
"We believe it's very important for faculty, staff and students who use this building to contact us concerning inappropriate behavior in the library," said Holly Buchanan, director of the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center. "We have been proactive."
On March 13, a UNM pharmacy student filed a campus police report stating that she witnessed a man apparently masturbating on the library's third floor.
On March 27, a facilities employee found a note and told police she thought it may have something to do with the "indecent exposure incidents that have been occurring at the Health Sciences Library." Police later determined the note to be a hoax because it listed a phone number to the Student Residence Center main desk, said James Daniels, commander of the UNM Police Department.
But a police report states the first reported incident of an indecent exposure at the library occurred March 2.
"Yes, it has happened more than once, which has made us concerned," Buchanan said.
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She added that staff members are monitoring the library in conjunction with campus police, signs have been posted asking users to tell staff if they see anything suspicious and staff members are working to maintain the library's open access policy while balancing it against the need for safety.
"We have to be proactive," Buchanan said. " UNM police are very good about random monitoring."
Buchanan would not say how many times there has been an incident of indecent exposure at the library this semester or if there had been any last semester.
She said the library does not have security and that it is staff members who monitor the library with help of campus police officers.
The man who allegedly exposed himself in the library on March 13 was described in the police report as Caucasian, 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing about 145 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
