While students and SU community members have received multiple public safety notices regarding off-campus crime recently, there has not been an increase in the amount of crime occurring off campus, police said.

Within the month of October, Syracuse University students received five public safety notices warning them of crimes that occurred in the off-campus area.

Of these reports, three were residential strong-arm robberies, occurring on the 200 block of Ostrom Ave., on the 1000 block of Comstock Ave. and at 708 Lancaster Ave. Two were incidents of forced touching occurring on the 700 block of S. Crouse Ave. and on the 700 block of Euclid Ave.

These events, along with the Orange Alert that put the university on lockdown after the suspect of a homicide that occurred two miles away from campus was being searched for in Oakwood Cemetery on Oct. 14, have heightened the fear of students who live and walk off campus. While students are showing concern, Sgt. Richard Helterline of the Syracuse Police Department said there hasn’t been an increase in off-campus crime.

“What we’re seeing is better communication between police and the community … there is more information being shared,” Helterline said.

In wake of the recent crime, DPS redirected officers to areas that have been affected by off-campus crimes. It did not increase the number of officers dispatched around the off-campus community.

In a survey that garnered about 200 responses, 82 percent of students said they are afraid when walking off campus at night. The study was conducted by Alexander Lynch, a senior citizenship and civic engagement major, who created a survey that focused on how the university can step up to protect students living off campus for his senior project.

Lynch suggested that the Department of Public Safety embrace what is written on the side of its cars: community policing.

“DPS could have a better relationship with students and then students would be more apt to report things,” he said.

However, DPS is still working to increase the safety for students living off campus. DPS and members of the Student Association have created a student advisory task force working to come up with better ways of transporting students and offering shuttles more efficiently and effectively, DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado said.

Having an escort service available to students, especially after hours, is a huge issue among students, he said.

 

Shuttle-U-Home is a single-shuttle service that runs on a first-come, first-serve basis. The service runs during night hours that can bring students to their off-campus residence, according to the DPS website.

However, the wait time can be 30 to 40 minutes, prompting students to walk, Maldonado said.

In order to provide an alternative way for students to get home, SA President Aysha Seedat and the organization are currently working to get a ride-hailing service, like Uber, on campus.

“I understand that these are the services and that the budget that DPS has to deal with (by having a single-shuttle service that can only accommodate seven students at a time), so one of the ways we can extend it further is with something like Uber,” Seedat said.

Ride-hailing services are currently only legal in New York City, but not in the rest of the state. Uber would be particularly helpful, due to the limits of DPS’s jurisdiction, so that students don’t walk home alone, Seedat said.

Elin Riggs, director of Off-Campus and Commuter Services, said she believes that in addition to the multiple notifications, the fact that it is getting darker earlier that makes students more nervous when walking home at night.

About 10,000 SU graduate and undergraduate live off campus.

“(They) know if you were to rob a student, chances are you’re not going to get a lot of money but you are going to get an ATM or debit card that you can use at least once, you’re going to get a smartphone and you may get a computer,” Riggs said.

While DPS and SPD can do everything that they can to minimize crime, she said students have to advocate for themselves.

Seedat agrees that it is not solely the responsibility of DPS. She said students should be willing to walk home together or see that a friend gets home instead of letting them walk on their own.

It’s a matter of everyone taking ownership together to ensure that we’re not susceptible to anything, she added.

And while Alexander Lynch, the Maxwell student who conducted the off-campus safety survey, said he believes that DPS should be in off-campus neighborhoods more often, he said he also thinks that it is a shared responsibility between students, DPS and SPD.

“DPS could do everything that they can, but if students are not going to lock their doors and still leave valuables out in their cars, there’s no point to have the law enforcement there if students aren’t going to pick up their part too,” Lynch said. “That’s the big issue.”

Published on November 19, 2015 at 12:02 am

Contact Ali: Ali Linan