Sgt. Mark Hudson of the /*Fresno Police Department*/ is investigating the series of break-ins. "What these subjects are doing is breaking into classrooms, kicking open the door, busting open windows and going after these smart board projectors. They are pulling them down off the ceilings, cutting the cables that attach it to the ceiling and taking off with them."
The projectors are valued at from $1,000 to $1,500 each. The projectors allow smart boards become giant computer touch screens, interactive teaching tools, replacing the whiteboard, or the traditional chalk blackboard in school classrooms.
17 of these projectors have been stolen from schools all over the city. Thieves targeted Greenberg three times. Leavenworth Elementary was also hit three times. At least eleven other schools have also been targeted.
Hudson said, "They are picking the classrooms where they know these smart board projectors are at."
In a written statement, Fresno Unified appealed for the public's help... and said, "This rash of thefts is a blow to our students and their teachers."
Hudson believes the thieves have found a ready market for these projectors, which can be hooked up to most computers. "We're assuming these projectors for videos a computer we assume they have somebody they are selling them to or putting them on EBay or another website they can sell them on.
