The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Beginning this weekend, off-duty Norfolk sheriff's deputies will start patrolling neighborhoods around Old Dominion University during the evening and early-morning hours, one of several measures college officials announced Thursday to combat a recent rise in crime.
In an e-mail to students, faculty and staff, acting president John Broderick reiterated that the university and city police have increased patrols in the neighborhoods where armed robberies and a shooting that killed one man occurred in recent weeks.
Broderick's letter followed two rallies held by the Student Government Association on Wednesday at which students voiced their fears and listed what they saw as problems - a limited campus shuttle system, poor lighting on city streets and an inefficient alert system.
Several initiatives listed by Broderick include finalizing plans to expand the university's shuttle bus service into neighborhoods off campus where many students live; reviving a safety task force of university, city and community members to identify safety and security issues; revising the emergency communications alert system; and offering seminars at the beginning of the school year and adding classes throughout the year to promote safety and heighten student awareness.
In addition, Broderick said, the university will work with the city to explore increasing lighting and emergency call boxes in the Highland Park and Lamberts Point areas.
The e-mail listed a Student Government Association Web site to solicit feedback from students at www.orgs.odu.edu/sga. The university has established an e-mail address for questions, concerns and ideas about safety at safety@odu.edu.
Denise Watson Batts, (757) 446-2504, denise.batts@pilotonline.com
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ODU IS probaly one of the lowest paid Police departments around. I dont blame the officers for sitting on there butt.
Students have to live off campus
There is no where near enough dorm rooms to house the number of students at ODU so a lot of students have to live off campus. That is why ODU still has SOME responsibility to the students who live off campus because they can't accomodate them on campus. Yes, that area has always had a high crime rate, but it has gotten increasingly worse in the last year - which I blame partly on the bad economy. The worse the economy is, the higher the crime rate. My niece (a student who does not live on campus) was robbed in broad daylight just off campus 2 months ago. She was with another female student, so she wasn't alone (obviously didn't help). My daughter goes there too (but lives at home) and I won't let her take night classes. She also carries pepper spray and an alarm. None of this guarantees her safety, but its better than doing nothing. This happens on campuses across the country, we just don't hear about it unless someone dies.
Might Want To Rethink That!
Submitted by laura eichbaum on Thu, 12/04/2008 at 11:06 pm.
If these problems are occurring on non-University property then the responsibility falls on city of Norfolk police. Where are they?
Uhmm, excuse me but did you see 29 year old Police Officer Andrew T. Wenzel's picture yesterday (the one w/2 counts of perjury)??
I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want a face like that creeping up behind you in a patrol car talking about "Is everything okay tonight?"
Call for an escort?
Is it too old-fashioned to remember methods like the number on campus we could call in the 1970's to get someone to walk us home (it was in Michigan and it was limited to on-campus places)? I guess if it were only two students together they might *still* be robbed at gunpoint, even if a rape is avoided??? Too many guns out there to make an escort number a viable option?
A New Fee for ODU
I can see the ODU officials giddily with glee. Something more to charge the students for and no way to check if the money is spent correctly. I went to ODU for my degree and their additional fees that are imposed on students were outrageous. I paid a medical fee yet when I went to get some aspirin I was told I had to see a doctor before they could give me any. I ask what I could get without a Doctor she said a condom so I took it and asked for some aspirin so I could use it.. Did not work but the laugh help with my headache. A transportation Fee is another one I have my own car and walked to classes but I still paid for a bus to run around campus. Trust me ODU will charge for this one way or another. Go to a school that does not do this there are several here in the area. Get out of ODU WHILE U CAN
Things are better
Last December when I moved here there were drug dealers on the corner and prostitutes. The shootings were usually from territory disputes or attempts to rob the drug dealers. It is just too bad that no one wanted to clean up these areas until students were endangered. Not everyone living in a socioeconomically depressed area is a criminal, some are the working poor and they deserve to be safe too. Now that the drug dealers are less prevalent we have more problems with the “crazies” that were intimidated by the criminals. Many of these people are disabled veterans with serious mental health and or substance abuse issues. As the neighborhood improves rents will go up thus forcing the poor to move. Gentrification is a dirty word and a harsh reality. This is why the students become a focus for crime and anger as a neighborhood is rehabilitated. It would be nice if some effort were taken in these neighborhoods surrounding ODU to help the working poor that have survived here for so long.
English
Methinks someone should go back to school to learn how to write.
"Students say ODU has a limited shuttles,...."
Staff salary cuts needed now at ODU
The salary and compensation packages of the administrators, professors and instructors at ODU should be cut in order to fund appropriate security and safe transportation for the students. The students should create a security and crime reporting website and send the link to all their parents and relatives to keep them informed of what is going on at the school.
What Police Force?
The area around ODU has always been a high crime area, but ODU didn't care because every year they get a new crop of out of town kids, who didn't know that.
Campus cops were usually rejects from the NPD, or who couldn't qualify as a real cop. Their biggest beat was catching smoochers in parked cars or ogling the coeds.
Maybe ODU should stop
Maybe ODU should stop allocate millions of dollars to an upstart football team that is guaranteed to lose money (no FCS team turns a profit) and instead use a fraction of that money to improve campus security.