UPDATE: Lewiston Police announced Wednesday that the "suspicious item" is a recording device.
"The Criminal Investigations Division is working with the Maine Computer Crimes Task Force and Bates College Security in the hope that we’ll be able to obtain some useful information regarding exactly what it is and or a suspect. Additionally we are also trying to establish if a crime has occurred," wrote Sgt. James Theiss in a news release.
Theiss also said they would not release any additional information about the device at this time.
Lewiston Police and Bates College staff confirmed Saturday night that a Bates College women’s basketball coach reported a “suspicious item” in a women’s locker room on campus.
Police said it is unclear right now what exactly the item is, but said it appeared to have some type of lens. Police could not say if the device was a camera with recording capabilities.
Sean Findlen, chief communications officer for Bates College, said a device was found in the women’s locker room at the Alumni Gym on Friday afternoon. The women’s basketball team is on campus and held practice Friday.
Neither Findlen, nor police could confirm if it was a player or coach who found the device, but both said the coach reported it to campus security.
Neither police, nor Findlen, could say where in the locker room the item was found.
“Providing a safe and secure environment for everybody on our campus, students, faculty, staff, visitors, anyone who comes to our campus, is of paramount importance,” said Findlen. “Obviously, this is a concern to all of us at Bates, and we are very fortunate to have a good partner with the local police department to help our security team look into this and figure this out and understand it better.”
Police said the officer who was notified of the incident went and photographed the device and its location, but police would not release any details on what the item looked like or where it was found.
Findlen said students are currently on break. He said the item was not something they felt posed a physical safety threat to the lives of students, staff, faculty, or visitors, but that it looked “out of sorts.”
Lewiston Police is taking over the case as a criminal investigation.