Rutgers expanding safety efforts; more off-campus patrols, surveillance cameras
Rutgers University has boosted police patrols this semester and plans to install more surveillance cameras in the troubled neighborhood next to the state’s flagship campus, Chancellor Richard Edwards said Wednesday, as three young men charged in connection with a violent crime spree there pleaded not guilty in court.
R.L. Rebach/staff artist
Starting today, the school also will begin reaching out to the nearly 10,000 students who live south and west of the historic College Avenue campus, in New Brunswick’s 5th and 6th wards, to distribute window alarms and light timers and advise them on ways to be more conscious of their own safety.
“The safety and well-being of all members of our community are a priority,” Edwards said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon.
Related: Two former Rutgers football players, student plead not guilty in home invasions
The issue of student safety was brought into sharper focus last week when 10 current and former Rutgers students, including five members of the Scarlet Knights football team, were charged with robbing and assaulting other students in the area during the spring semester, fueling a new round of security concerns even as Rutgers has spent millions in an effort to attract the state’s best students.
An unrelated sexual assault was also reported in the neighborhood — which is home to the bars, restaurants and stores frequented by students and staff — in the early hours a week before the start of the fall semester.
While officials say the crime rate has actually dropped in the city, crime is still a problem, and many are leery of the residential neighborhoods of older, two-story wood-frame houses that are mostly rented by students.
“I just had a granddaughter graduate from here and I used to stay up nights. When she got home, she had to call me, living off campus,” said Robert O’Donnell, 85, himself a loyal alumnus and football supporter whose son also attended the university. “It’s just constant assaults, muggings and everything off-campus. I think you have a responsibility … to have adequate patrols there.”
Edwards said in the interview that 15 new recruits will be added to the 76-member Rutgers University Police Department at New Brunswick within the next few months. He said there have been increased patrols, in partnership with New Brunswick police, and there are plans to install dozens of security cameras in the neighborhoods in addition to the 2,700 that already exist on the campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway.
Students and staff at Rutgers can also request escorts from the university police if they are returning to campus from other areas in the city, including the train station, Edwards said.
The university this semester also opened an office of off-campus living and community partnership, which is expected to address security and other issues.
That office is scheduled to distribute the light timers and window alarms today to students and also is starting block watch programs, said Kerri Willson, director of the off-campus office. The school also has used grant money to purchase two more patrol vehicles that will concentrate on the area, she said. “We’re going to focus heavily on where we’ve seen a problem,” Willson said.
Rutgers last year implemented an expanded text-alert system to inform students and staff of serious crimes within the two wards.
Officials say the overall crime rate in New Brunswick is actually down significantly in most categories so far this year. There were 280 reported crimes between January and August 2015, down from 433 during the same period in 2014, according to the Uniform Crime Report released by the New Jersey State Police last week.
But students themselves said in interviews that they need to be on guard.
“You never know what to expect,” said sophomore Bianca Douglas. “I’m a female and I walk at night sometimes and I don’t want to feel like I have to be alert at all times. I want to feel safe on campus.”
She said that students frequently receive crime alerts about incidents that appear to be drug-related. “I think it’s a big thing,” she said. “If people know you’re on campus selling drugs, they’re going to rob you.”
Other students said it’s not just anyone selling drugs on campus; it’s primarily their Rutgers peers.
“If you’re looking for it, you can find it,” said junior Mark Rousseau. He said last year one of the neighboring houses on Central Avenue, where he lived, was forcibly entered because of what he heard was a marijuana-related feud.
“Some of the kids are selling drugs and if people get wind of it, people break in and take the drugs and money,” he said, adding that it’s a storyline that plays out over and over in the area surrounding the campus.
Some of the 10 students and former students charged last week are accused of armed home invasions in which they allegedly stole drugs and money from fellow students. One alleged incident was in a dormitory in Piscataway, but the other two were near Central Avenue.
And five of those charged, including four football players, are accused of assaulting a group of students on Delafield Street, breaking one’s jaw.
source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/rutgers-expanding-safety-efforts-more-off-campus-patrols-surveillance-cameras-1.1406401
Dennis Mancino HD View 360 OTC Capital Partners
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