The Holmes Student Center Bookstore’s new electronic security system has performed satisfactory during its first month of use.

William Herrmann, NIU director of Bond Revenue Operations and director of the student center, said representatives of several NIU organizations and offices met at the bookstore July 13 to “review the use of the Monarch system.”

Under the new $35,000 system, magnetic tags on merchandise are deactivated by store clerks at the time of purchase. Tags not deactivated trigger the electronic alarms at the bookstore doors. Herrmann said representatives at the July 13 meeting discussed “technical aspects of the system, with regards to what procedures we would use” when the alarm is sounded.

“If the alarm is activated, we will assume we made a mistake (in the deactivated process) and will call the customer back to recheck the merchandise,” Herrmann said.

William Parker, NIU interim associate vice pesident for business operations, explained that “normally, the majority of alarms occurring are the failure of clerks to deactivate the tags during purchase. The tags are held within a certain distance of the deactivator for desensitizing, and they can be missed sometimes.

Herrmann said the bookstore staff reiterated its policy of prosecuting student shoplifters through the NIU Judicial Office.

Th bookstore has developed a new policy to be used when a student suspcted of shoplifting. “If we see a student concealing merchandise, we can now use the judicial process if a student doesn’t cooperate. We will first identify the student, write them up and let them go (temporarily).