Towson’s campus, community needs more police presence
If you are a Towson student, faculty or staff member, you are aware of Crime Alert text messages and emails.
Last semester, we all noticed the major increase of crime around the Towson community. Honestly, it was scary to see how crime has risen.
But even worse is that the spring semester just started and almost four crimes have already been committed. We get text messages and emails alerting us of the crimes that have already taken place and we are told be very cautious. However, what is being done to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place? I suggest, and am sure many others will agree with me, more police presence.
Why? We are now a targeted community. And it’s no fun feeling unsafe in the area we go to school and live in. For the Towson community, Baltimore County police presence needs to be increased. And at Towson University, Towson police presence needs to be increased. If there is more police presence around most areas, the perpetuators will get the message that we are aware that you are targeting this community and we are here to stop you and make you go away.
Towson University is a great institution. And I want to feel safe in and out the classroom.
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Increased police presence doesn’t work to prevent crime. It’s not a deterrence. How is crime prevented? Early detection! There’s a lot of other factors that go into this, simply increasing police presence won’t do anything. Think I’m talking out of my ass? Look up the Kansas City Experiment, and see for yourself.
Of course we are a targeted population, we are a demographic that has been totally disarmed by not only the state of Maryland but the administration. We easily could cut crime if we were allowed to carry on campus the legal self defense methods like stun guns, knives, or batons. For some reason the administration has determined that adults who legally are allowed to defend themselves (our new Castle Doctrine anyone?) that we should rely on the campus PD. Police investigate crimes after they have been done, they do not prevent them. What we should be calling for instead of more cops is to get our God given right of self defense back. Our student body should fight back against the thugs who take us for easy marks. But to any would be muggers all I have to say, make my day. We all should prefer to be judged by twelve in a court room than carried by six to our graves.
Stun guns on campus? It would never work. Yes, there are people who can use them responsibly, but I would never trust 3/4 of this campus with a stun gun, even after they had training. I can see many cases of drunken fights turning lethal.
Actually, crime is preventable. With information from past crimes and data extrapolation, crime can be locked down to a particular area and where an offender (and type of crime) will strike/happen. It’s a wonderful, behind-the-scenes field of the criminal justice field that gets absolutely no light or recognition. Crime analysis is the key to preventing, solving, and predicting crime, not the police officers on the street.
Want to know why Towson is targeted? Because there are a lot of students who have no clue about how to be safe. they walk alone at night talking on their cell phones not paying attention to their surroundings. They leave their cars unlocked, or leave their laptops and GPS units out for anyone to see (don’t believe me? Read the police blotter, it is so surprising how many people don’t secure their stuff). And, they leave their dorm rooms unlocked and allow people to follow them into the buildings! I was amazed at how many doors were found unlocked when I was an RA on campus. People tape them open because they couldn’t be bothered by taking their key or OneCard out, and then are angry when their stuff is gone.
Adding police won’t help. Don’t look at the police as the problem – yes, they are here to maintain order on campus, but unless you plan on hiring thousands of officers to cover every inch of campus, then you need to understand that they can’t be everywhere at once. Take responsibility for your own safety by being responsible and alert!
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