Commentary: Students need to be notified of crimes on and around campus equally
FAU notified students of Boca police on 20th Street last week, but didn’t notify them of a more immediate on-campus threat last year.
October 1, 2017
FAU will notify students of Boca police activity on a road next to campus, but not of a man arrested for videotaping women using an on-campus bathroom?
That’s at least what I found out this past Sunday, Sept. 24 after receiving text messages and emails from the university notifying students of Boca police activity on 20th.
I called Jessica Desir, a Boca police spokeswoman and she told me that Boca Police were responding to a call in the Casa Del Rio apartment complex located off campus next to the El Rio Trail.
Police were responding to a call of what they referred to as a “mentally ill,” 24-year-old man who was setting off smoke bombs and firing an air powered shotgun and rifle in his house, according to Boca police records. Desir said the incident was contained to the apartment complex only.
During November of last year, I reported a story on a man in a bathroom stall who was caught videotaping women using an unidentified on-campus bathroom. Students wrote to the University Press asking why the university didn’t notify students at the time.
The university determined that the incident wasn’t an “imminent threat,” according to WPTV.
So why weren’t we notified?
As an FAU student, I’m confused by the judgement that goes into determining whether or not something is a threat to students.
“The message sent on Sunday was not an alert. It was informational and meant for the people who noticed the police activity directly adjacent to the Boca Raton campus and were concerned,” Joshua Glanzer, a university spokesperson wrote in an email. “Alert notifications are sent out when there is a perceived imminent threat to the community.”
Either way, students weren’t notified at all last November, but did receive emails and text messages titled: “ATTENTION F.A.U” last weekend.
It’s not that FAU shouldn’t notify us of police activity on 20th Street, it’s that they should also report on-campus crimes that in my eyes, are an immediate threat to students.
Is FAU right in their distinction between the two crimes, or should students have been notified of both? Email us at [email protected], tweet us @upressonline, or leave a comment below or on Facebook to let us know your thoughts.
Joe Pye is the editor in chief of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @jpeg3189.
Alex Bruens • Oct 2, 2017 at 2:07 am
When white nationalist organization Indentity Evropa put up posters threatening non-white students, where was the notification? My friends and I only knew about the story because of a UP article — simply shocking. Shortly after, I talked with FAU police and they assured me that steps are being taken. How would I know that without personally seeking out confirmation? When I told my friends about the MULTIPLE instances of this, they were frightened for their lives yet FAU administration tells us nothing to assuge our fears. It’s not okay — we need accountability, transparency, and more communication ASAP.
Glenn Gromann • Oct 1, 2017 at 9:28 pm
Hey Joe, even more concerning is the nature of the wide open campus. I went to college and law school in the Northeast then got my Master’s of Law at UM. All the colleges/law schools I knew of were open 24/7–except that at 10PM everything and all gates except one were locked down. There was only one way in and one way out and you didn’t get in after hours unless you had a student/staff ID AND a parking decal. We now have the ability to scan license plates. It’s mystifying to me that the lessons learned long ago are not used here. Lynn University does not even have a fence around campus–you just pull up to the sidewalk and walk on in by baseball field. Criminals by their very nature are lazy–if they can’t get there by car they go elsewhere. FAU, LYNN are right on top of Route 95 exits makes no sense the campus would be wide open like this.