With all the crimes that have been happening off and on campus lately, Tech students are rightfully demanding that the police make efforts to make the area safer. Tech students have the right to feel safe in their homes and while traveling around campus. Since the GTPD has rights to patrol 500 yards outside Tech property, they should take this to heart and amp up protection in the areas that they know are heavily populated by students.
While both Atlanta police and GTPD say that they are going to institute roadblocks and safety checks, this may not be enough. Roadblocks will not stop crime, only divert it into different areas, and it is difficult to make a roadblock effectively distinguish between criminals and other citizens. Most likely, the roadblock will catch more drunk students than criminals, and while that is a good thing, the greater problem at hand is the safety of our students.
While we do not want GTPD to divert necessary resources from preventing on-campus crime, students living off-campus deserve to feel like their safety is important too. Along with police efforts, Tech should try less traditional measures. While it is good to remind students the common knowledge not to walk alone at night, there are other more effective ways to protect them.
Since a large population of students live in communities of campus, such as Home Park and Centennial Place, Tech should have programs that encourage interaction between those students, such as carpools, or even just required programs to make students who live off-campus meet and hear ways to protect themselves. Stingerette or GTPD shuttle could extend further outside of Tech’s borders at night.
If we do not crack down on crime, potential students could be scared away. If Tech does not act decisively, these crimes will be a blemish on Tech’s reputation that will hurt us for years to come.
The Consensus Opinion reflects the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of the Technique, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.