As an open campus, one of the overarching goals of the university is student safety.
The flashing blue Emergency Call Boxes dotted across the grounds, USCPD preventive police escorts and the Walk Home Cocky student initiative address this concern. More or less, timely Carolina Alerts tell students if there is a potential danger on campus at the moment, advising them accordingly depending on the situation.
It is clear that both USCPD and the student body are taking this seriously, especially in response to violent incidents in and around Five Points last year.
So why is it, in the first four days since classes started, two separate men with guns have managed to traipse across campus, one robbing a student, and both getting away?
The simple fact is that crime is always going to be a possibility on such a large campus. Sometimes the suspect can be apprehended; sometimes he or she can’t. Our goal should be to create an environment so that, when people threaten the safety of students, police are within shouting distance to help.
The most notable problem is a distinct lack of uniformed police officers visible on campus after dark.
Unless a distress call of some sort is made, which isn’t always possible depending on the situation, their immediate presence is almost palpable.
This isn’t to say that they aren’t quick to respond as soon as they are aware of a situation. Within minutes of a distress call, one can see just how quickly police sirens speed to the situation.
However, in order to bolster the sense of well-being among students and perhaps deter potential criminal activity, we feel that the community would benefit if we saw more police uniforms walking the pathways of campus.
While seeing police ride around during the daytime isn’t uncommon, their presence at that time didn’t make the two suspects change their minds about pulling out their weapons on campus.
There’s nothing to suggest that these two incidents, one late Thursday night and one early Sunday morning, are related, but their combined effect suggests that there is still more for police to do on campus.
We believe that putting more police on foot into the heart of campus is the right way forward.