Editorial: Disfunctional Drexel Public Safety
Editorial Board
Issue date: 9/20/07 Section: Ed-Op
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Government is synonymous with bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is synonymous with slow. We all know that the government can take a significant amount of time to change; we've grown to accept this fact.
Issues such as universal healthcare and global warming are certainly important, but yet almost no legislation has been passed to address needs related to them. However, in order to appease citizens, the government has passed legislation that is more like a band aid on a growing wound. Drexel seems to be modeling the government in its reaction to campus crime.
In case you're new to campus, crime on and around Drexel is a growing wound, and yet University officials only put a band aid on the problem. We're continually told about how the University is adding additional patrols, or hiring more security guards. In our opinion, these "improvements" are just band aids. There's a large problem with the current public safety model: it doesn't work.
For years, this newspaper and Drexel students have been asking the University to make a permanent change to improve the quality of public safety.
Some feel that a campus police force is essential if we want to reduce the high number of armed robberies and other crimes. Others want to see better trained or weapons-equipped officers.
Right now, public safety officers do not carry weapons and many seem to just partake in a rat race to scan security check points. They are not trained to be vigilant and the most they can do when they see a crime is call the police, just like any other citizen. Therefore, many students just don't feel safe near campus.
In fact, the Metro, a local Philadelphia newspaper, ran a story in their Sept. 17 issue about public safety at Drexel. A reporter spoke to Drexel students who were dissatisfied with campus safety. The report also indicated that Drexel's crime statistics do not accurately depict crime on Drexel's campus.
To summarize, this discrepancy exists because Drexel only reports crimes that take place on campus; all off campus crimes are omitted. So, if you're jumped on Spring Garden St., that crime will not be reported because you were technically off campus - even if you were a Drexel student who was most likely walking from campus to your house.
Issues such as universal healthcare and global warming are certainly important, but yet almost no legislation has been passed to address needs related to them. However, in order to appease citizens, the government has passed legislation that is more like a band aid on a growing wound. Drexel seems to be modeling the government in its reaction to campus crime.
In case you're new to campus, crime on and around Drexel is a growing wound, and yet University officials only put a band aid on the problem. We're continually told about how the University is adding additional patrols, or hiring more security guards. In our opinion, these "improvements" are just band aids. There's a large problem with the current public safety model: it doesn't work.
For years, this newspaper and Drexel students have been asking the University to make a permanent change to improve the quality of public safety.
Some feel that a campus police force is essential if we want to reduce the high number of armed robberies and other crimes. Others want to see better trained or weapons-equipped officers.
Right now, public safety officers do not carry weapons and many seem to just partake in a rat race to scan security check points. They are not trained to be vigilant and the most they can do when they see a crime is call the police, just like any other citizen. Therefore, many students just don't feel safe near campus.
In fact, the Metro, a local Philadelphia newspaper, ran a story in their Sept. 17 issue about public safety at Drexel. A reporter spoke to Drexel students who were dissatisfied with campus safety. The report also indicated that Drexel's crime statistics do not accurately depict crime on Drexel's campus.
To summarize, this discrepancy exists because Drexel only reports crimes that take place on campus; all off campus crimes are omitted. So, if you're jumped on Spring Garden St., that crime will not be reported because you were technically off campus - even if you were a Drexel student who was most likely walking from campus to your house.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Anon.
posted 9/25/07 @ 1:26 AM EST
Disfunctional Drexel?
Is that supposed to be ironic?
Talk about dysfunction...
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