So imagine my reaction when I walked into the room yesterday morning and did NOT see the ceiling mounted projector or the computer that controls it.
They had been stolen.
We are a manufacturing company with two shifts. The room had been cleared for carpet installation, which was postponed for a few days because the carpet arrived damaged. With the furniture out of the room we couldn't use it, so nobody went into it until yesterday, when new equipment was to be installed.
Working backward, we think it happened after the end of the "normal" business day on Friday. On Monday morning, one of my colleagues looked into the room to see the new carpet. He noticed the projector was missing, but thought it was moved as part of the preparation for the carpet install.
Entrance to the building is by key-card, and only employees have them. We surmise this was done with at least one employee's help, as no alarms were triggered. Whoever did it needed a ladder and tools, and an assistant. The projector could not be removed by one person.
I've worked for this company twenty-four years and have never heard of anything like this happening before. As one of my co-workers told me yesterday, "I could leave my wallet on my desk overnight, and it would still be here, intact, in the morning. Nobody would touch it."
No longer.
We had to call the police. We will prosecute if the perpetrator is found. Some person or persons may lose their jobs. We have already started looking into who was in the building at that time and are making inquiries. We have instituted some security measures and more will be forthcoming.
We were all so proud of the improvements to our conference room, the "jewelry," the "branding" (which I did not show you to keep the company name private), and excited about the new technologies we were implementing.
Obviously, "we" were wrong. Someone amongst us did not feel that pride. It hurts to think I work with this person. Someone broke that trust "we" all had. It was a rough day yesterday.
I don't need your advice or suggestions about how this could have been prevented or what we should do to prevent this from happening again. I just wanted to explain my silence.
