When a strange man comes to your door and asks to live in your basement, it’s nice to know that Public Safety is a quick phone call away. Their help is particularly valuable when that man’s belongings, which included police attire and ingredients that could be used in the creation of methamphetamine, are found under your front porch.
Public Safety officers go to great lengths to protect students’ property and lives and to maintain a sense of security on campus. The events of last Saturday night serve as another job well done for Public Safety.
Unfortunately, the specifics of this incident went unreported to the community. The details of the story were kept from students with only a vague two lines printed in the Public Safety Awareness Report in Tuesday’s issue. Not even nearby residents were alerted to the situation.
Public Safety did not send out an email alert because the incident was not considered enough of a threat to the community, but at the very least, area residents should have been told, especially considering the individual was released by police. Listservs exist for all of the residential communities on campus. An easy solution would have been for Public Safety to notify only area residents.
On its website, Public Safety says that arson, aggravated assault, criminal homicide, robbery, and sex offenses are typically what is required for an all-campus email. Does someone need to get hurt before students are warned of possible danger in their neighborhood?
Public Safety maintains it is cautious about sending out too many emails for fear that students may stop reading them. While there may certainly be a point when students become immune to alerts, we are not yet there.
Due to the lack of communication, rumors about the incident spread across campus quickly. A detailed Public Safety report would have quelled talk of a full-blown meth lab in the basement of 96 Lawn.
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