On Oct. 12, two men - one wielding a knife - attacked a student walking near the intersection of Brown and Waterman streets. Though the perpetrators were arrested and charged with felony assault, the victim sustained injuries, and there was no obvious motive for the crime. Having an attack so close to home has struck an uneasy chord within the Brown community. This attack should serve to remind us that despite many improvements in campus security, instances of violence are often entirely unpredictable, and being aware of ourselves and our surroundings is essential.
This assault is the most serious incident in a recent spate of crime occurring in and around the Brown campus. Cell phone theft in particular has seen a recent rise in occurrences - last month, there were four cell phone robbery incidents, all on streets close to the Main Green. The Department of Public Safety has been increasing its presence on campus over the last few years, both physically and virtually. DPS officials send emails to the student body regarding safety tips and offers defense courses and personal alarms to students. But it is also important to remember that making personal adjustments to reduce the opportunity for assailants to target you is perhaps the most important part of maintaining your safety. In light of this, we are concerned about the recent crimes on or near campus and urge all students to take precautions for their own safety.
DPS maintains a strong presence on campus and is quick to respond to emergency calls. Both the assault last week and cell phone thefts in November have been followed through with arrests and charges of suspects, for which we commend the officers and their hard work.
At the same time, violent incidents keep occurring, and the most effective way to lower the rates of successful crime around campus is to engage in risk awareness to reduce the probability of being the victim of a crime.
One of the problems seems to be the culture of texting. We're all guilty of being absorbed in our digital world, but the plain fact is that focusing on your phone reduces your awareness of your surroundings. When you're on your own late at night, this makes you a much easier target for those looking to commit assault or theft. Try not to travel through unlit areas or take the detour you know is down an alley. Keep a sense of where the blue DPS phones are on campus. These are all safety measures that we know at least peripherally - but knowing something and acting on it have always been two separate things.
Resources include Safewalk, available Sunday to Thursday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. for all students, and SafeRIDE, which operates from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. every day. This is especially important for students who live off-campus, as well as anyone traveling along side streets late at night. SafeRIDE can be called from anywhere and will travel to off-campus housing to escort students safely. Furthermore, Personal Safety Alarms are available to any student who requests one from a Public Safety location, and the Brown Guardian Service, for which students can register online, serves as a "speed-dial option" to DPS in case of emergencies. It is true that this is all information that can be found on the Brown website (and we know it's been in the back of your brain since you learned it at orientation). But these resources, fantastic as they are, are used less than they should be. The blue light phones are the main reason the recent assailants were caught. This is a trend we hope to see continue, but that is up to you as students.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
