Necessary Precautions

Taking extra measures is about keeping safe, not living in fear.

On Sunday, Dec. 19, three students on the 2200 block of North Camac Street were the victims of another armed robbery close to Main Campus.

Under The Temple News’ count, it was the fifth armed robbery of students since the beginning of November if each incident in the three-headed case of Dec. 13 is counted separately.

Students are rightfully concerned.

Ryan Dadalski, a senior film and media arts major, created the Facebook group “Eyes Around Temple.” NBC10 reported it “received several e-mails from students who were crime victims.”

While we hope the string of armed robberies were by-products of the holiday season, when many feel more desperate for money, The Temple News encourages all students to remain alert.

It’s not about living in fear. It’s about taking the necessary precautions. But at a certain point, if a student is doing everything in his or her power to stay safe, how can anyone guarantee safety? It’s simple: No one can.

After all, who were these people who used guns to profit financially and instill fear in students? What did they hope to gain from putting a gun to junior communications major Ben Reese’s stomach and stealing his and his housemates’ possessions?

Although Campus Safety Services has vaguely informed students the case is ongoing [“Crime Update,” Page 2], we would love to sit down with these criminals if they are caught. As a community, what types of programs could we have offered to deter them? Just like there was a terrified heart beating in each victim’s chest, there was a working brain in each robber’s head.

As violence carries on throughout the country, it’s up to us as college students entering the workforce to come up with solutions for the future.

And, as parents and students look toward the university for an increased level of protection surrounding Main Campus, the university should begin to address controllable problems.

We’ve already noticed an increase in early-morning and late-night patrolling by Allied Barton secuirty guards on and off campus. Mobile security guards are a far cry from the occasional sleepyheads students have caught napping in security boxes.

Bad things happen, but if students start to feel the university and local police officers were doing everything in their power to protect us, we could focus more on how to prevent crime in the long run.