It’s not an uncommon experience for students at Seattle University to receive emails from Public Safety informing the study body about a break-in or a theft in the Broadway Garage. There have been past incidents regarding carjackings and robberies in the garage, which have left students feeling uneasy about the location. 

The Broadway Garage is known to have a lot of traffic due to many people utilizing the space. The garage has eight parking levels, which allows for ample parking space. In addition, it borders Broadway and Marion Street, which allows easy access to the public. 

The downside to the big space, public access and traffic is the difficulty in managing the space. Randy Merced is the executive director of Public Safety at the university, and he shared what concerns students have about the Broadway Garage. 

“When I first got here, I got to meet a lot of faculty, staff and students and I asked them, what basic question, what’s their biggest concern? A lot of them said this Broadway Garage was a big concern. There was—and I didn’t understand the nuances until I actually went to the Broadway Garage. I found that there is a concern because it’s right on the street of Broadway and there was no barriers there, so anybody could walk in and out all day long,” Merced said. 

The lack of barriers and gates around the parking garage has led to people roaming freely around the garage with no security for students who park their cars in the lots. This has caused uneasiness for many who use that space. 

Merced mentioned that he had to stop a couple of individuals behaving “suspiciously” from entering the garage, worrying that they might steal something. Merced warned that one of the simple methods for carjackers to take cars there is going around and checking for unlocked car doors. 

The concern of criminal activity near the Broadway Garage has been present even before Merced joined Public Safety. 

“It’s been consistent and a lot of nuisance crime. They’re breaking car windows, you know, getting change out of the console, or if somebody decides [to leave their] laptop there, they’ll break in and try to steal something,” Merced said.

Carjackers usually target the items inside the cars. Catalytic converters are another common target, as well as bicycles. Chris Wilcoxen, assistant director of emergency operations at Public Safety, shared how this is an issue with most parking garages. 

“Sometimes the bicycles are targeted for components or something like that on occasion, and there has been. There was a rash, especially last year, of catalytic converters, fast citywide well, region-wide so, and we had a little bit of that as well. And yeah, those were main concerns, just as we always, you know, want our facilities to be the best that they can,” Wilcoxen said.

Among some of the heavy traffic in the garage, there are some willing to take the risk of parking in the Broadway Garage. One of those individuals is Colene Angkico, a 2024 Seattle U alumna. 

Angkico parks in the Broadway garage often to attend some meetings on campus. However, she makes sure to stay cautious when she uses the space. She hides her valuables by either putting them in the trunk or covering things in the car to make sure nothing is visible. 

“Not leaving things visible like, even if it’s something like a bag of chips. If somebody’s desperate enough, they’ll see it, and they’ll be like, okay, it’s worth breaking into this person’s car for this thing that’s not as valuable,” Angkico said. 

Public Safety has started taking the initiative to make the Broadway garage safer. Merced talked about how Public Safety has been working on a barrier that will help prevent traffic in the garage. The barrier was initially going to be up by last Christmas, but wasn’t due to delayed supply. 

“They weren’t ready at that point. So once they got ready, they started working in earnest, making sure that it’s done. But again, this has been a problem well, before I started, and it’s been recognized by the institution as a continual problem, and the institution has taken steps,” Merced said. 

Even with the barrier, Wilcoxen advises students to stay safe and not leave valuables visible in their cars. Students should keep clutter and valuables hidden so as not to encourage break-ins. 

Angkico shared that she uses Public Safety as a resource as well by calling them to take her to her car when she feels unsafe or it’s too late at night.

There are multiple ways to ensure your car will not be broken into garages. However, Seattle U is working to improve that so there won’t be break-ins by installing barriers and enhancing security for campus safety.