ICPJ was in the Ann Arbor News twice today, once for our Dinner and a Movie (which was good), and once for recent break-ins at our office.

Since you care about ICPJ, I want you to have the full story.

Over the past 2 months, we’ve had four break ins. They have always been over the weekend and our office door has always been locked. The thief has only taken cash–money awaiting deposit, petty cash, and sales donations.

After the first break-in, we installed a lock a filing cabinet to our cash. The thief broke the lock.

Then we re-keyed the office door and installed a lock on a more secure filing cabinet. The thief still gained entry and broke the second lock.

After the third break-in, we fixed the lock on the filing cabinet and installed a safe. The thief broke the lock again but did not damage the safe.

After this fourth break-in, we’ve added a deadbolt to the office door (and if we can, we’ll fix the filing cabinet lock again).

All told, we’ve lost about $200 cash and it’s cost us another $300 or so in locks, safes, and locksmith fees. We currently keep very little if any cash in the filing cabinet, and we even try not to keep it in the safe.

I take very seriously the trust that our members and donors give to us when they make a donation, which is why we’ve been working so hard to secure our office. At every step of the way, we have increased our security measures to make sure that we are taking appropriate steps to protect the money you entrust us with.

If you have any leads on this case, please call the Ann Arbor Police tip line at 734-996-3199.

Thank you for your understanding of this matter. If you want to talk more about it, feel free to email chuck@icpj.net or call 734-663-1870.