JCU safety concerns

Last weekend, a man pulled a gun on two John Carroll University students in the Belvoir parking lot.  Although the culprit was apprehended a short time after, this incident marks just one of the several ongoing crimes that have happened on the JCU campus.

The administration and Campus Safety Services need to seriously consider taking a proactive approach in finding ways to prevent these crimes from continuing.  Since 2003, there have been suggestions about implementing the blue light phones around campus.

However, this idea continues to be tabled under the idea that buying the technology wouldn’t be economical.  Also, it has been argued that blue light phones make the campus look dangerous – but students being robbed and having guns pulled on them is a much bigger danger.  

With the increasing incidents on campus, the administration needs to consider this a major priority. Rather than spending money on improving the social life on campus, administrators need find ways to protect students.  

Rather than reacting to these situations, administrators must find a way to prevent them from happening.  

Another way to protect students and prevent these crimes from happening would be having more security working at any given time. Currently, CSS employs 16 safety/patrol officers, but only has a handful working at a time. By increasing the security, CSS can execute more patrol rounds and can have a bigger scope on situations happening around campus.   

Although stopping crime indoors may be difficult, the administration has the ability to stop it from happening outdoors. By offering this type of safety, we can keep our campus safer and make students feel confident in knowing that there’s help if needed.