Key Cards vs. Metal Keys

How would you deal with a situation like that of theft in a dorm?

In my experience (USA) the police will do nothing except say, "that's what you get for staying in a hostel (:confused:). Most theft can be prevented by providing lockers. Almost all the theft I've seen in hostels happened because the travelers were being careless with their money/electronics.

Examples:

• taking a shower and leaving pants in the dorm room with pockets full of cash (roommate stole cash and then reported to front desk that they were both robbed. The cops came and "could do nothing" even though everyone knew what had happened.)
• $3000 in cash stored in the side pocket of a backpack in the dorm room while the guests went out clubbing (razor blade sliced open the backpack)
• etc...

In cases like those, you can often eliminate people who are not staying in the same dorm room because the dorm room is locked. If you have electronic key cards, you can check the history of who opened the door and find out if a housekeeper or employee ever went into the room. (If you have a bad employee, it's good to find out about it as soon as possible.)

Locks on the dorm room door also keep non-guests from sneaking into the building and walking into dorms.

Some other things that can help reduce theft:

• Put sturdy lockers in every dorm room (either "bring your own lock" style, or keycard style)
• Provide safety deposit box for people who are staying in private rooms and who want to lock up their valuables (it is possible that housekeepers will steal, and making a safety deposit box available makes you less responsible)
• Remind guests (with signs and/or on the check-in sheet) that they shouldn't leave electronics, cash, or valuables laying around.

My experience is working in big city hostels where theft was a problem... it may be different in smaller towns (I don't know).

Did you ever find a culprit? How did you find out? Did you turn him/her to the police?

I've known who did it many times, but there was never anything that could be done. The police didn't take hostels seriously :)
("that's what you get for staying in a room with strangers")

In all cases, except maybe one (housekeeper stole from private room), the theft was preventable.

Here is a youtube video of someone opening an electronic door lock with a dry erase marker.

If you have this type of lock on your doors, does this work on your locks too?

Thanks for the link Gordo!

There is indeed quite a bit of technology crammed in that pen, and it's comforting to know that not everyone with a marker can do it. Especially since those locks are so widely used.

Because hotels are so standardized these days, this one vulnerability spans locations around the world and is the same kind of technology used in no fewer than four million hotel rooms.
...
The company responsible for the popular locks, Onity, has promised that it is going to find a fix to this exploit.