Newsflash.
The University Police employs 61 officers who patrol North and South Campus roads, parking lots and campus buildings 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
So my question is, on Friday night, where were they?
Friday night, after returning home from the movies at approximately 11:30 p.m., I sat in a car in the Goodyear/Clement Hall parking lot on South Campus with a male friend who happens to be a Buffalo Police officer. As we debated whether or not to go out for a bite to eat or to just call it a night, a homeless man approached the car and asked for money in a rather forceful way. My friend took swift action to close the window, and so the bum ventured on.
For some, this would be a scarring and intimidating experience, but for many South Campus residents, this is just another night on the Main Street strip. I don't know a person who has lived on South, or frequents the Buffalo campus often, who hasn't been approached by a homeless person, a drug addict or a drunken citizen. These ever-wonderful community members approach students frequently asking for money, sexual favors and other lewd and unseemly things, which would make your grandma blush.
"Hey baby, where you goin' with that 12-pack? I wanna go party with you," or "Hey sweetie, can I walk and talk with you?" are common phrases berated on many females as they head to class, to the bar or to and from their cars. This isn't the first time I've been approached. My friends who reside on South Campus are used to being spoken to, followed or intimidated by strangers in this manner.
Like many of these incidents, Friday night there wasn't a University Police Officer in sight. There wasn't one anywhere in the lower parking lot, nor was there an officer when we checked outside of the front of Clement Hall.
The best part is, this week both UB News and The Spectrum reported that there had been a series of car break-ins in the very same parking lot, and yet there was still a significant lack of police presence. Perhaps incidents like break-ins on our campuses could be prevented if the University Police actually demonstrated an active presence on campus. The mere presence of officials could be enough to deter the next rapist, mugger or car thief from victimizing the student population.
My personal experience on Friday wasn't especially traumatizing, considering the company I was keeping - a friend who is used to dealing with your everyday Buffalo criminal. What if the circumstances were different? What if, instead of being with my intimidating friend, I was with another female? What if we were intoxicated? What if this particular beggar didn't choose to take "no" for an answer and pursued to rob us, or worse?
It has been said countless times that UB is the key to revitalizing and renewing the University Heights, reducing crime and improving housing conditions for residents. But how can UB contribute to the community when it can't even keep its own students safe from the community at 11:30 on a Friday night?
How can UB plan to accommodate the thousands of additional students when many of the current campus problems like the housing crunch and Heights crime go unresolved year after year?
Perhaps the University Police were installing some more unattractive pillars in Founder's Plaza on Friday night in preparation for UB 2020, rather than ensuring that all of their students are staying alive in between leaving their cars and entering their residence halls. Or maybe they were too busy patrolling on harassing drunken students to actually have an active presence near high-traffic campus areas.
Whether or not the UB2020 plan is a swiftly growing plan or at a standstill, UB still needs to accommodate for the students it has now - not only for their everyday needs like parking and the need for a place to live, but on the rare occasion when they're in danger - which could become more and more common with every mugger who doesn't get caught the first time and every member of the homeless community who isn't swiftly escorted off campus.
Whether it be on South- notorious for car robberies, muggings and other crimes - or the typically quiet and relatively crime-free North Campus, a lack of police presence can only lead to the further destruction and decay of our campuses, with criminal activity amplified and students running amok.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
