There has recently been a lot of crime in off-campus neighborhoods around Syracuse University, including reports of shots fired, assaults and burglaries near Euclid Avenue and on South Campus. Some students have grown fearful of traveling to off-campus neighborhoods as a result.

“It’s a bit shocking, and a little bit scary that these types of things are happening so close to where we are living,” Aryan Trivedi, an SU freshman, said. “On any given night something can happen, and these [crimes] have been happening. We have to be cautious.”

SU freshman Frank Marciano heard about the call of shots fired on Euclid avenue on Oct. 23, and he said he hasn’t been out on Euclid Ave at night since.

“I’m scared to go out. I didn’t go out to Euclid since that incident. I probably won’t go out for a couple more weeks,” he said.

With legitimate, validated fears of violence and burglaries occurring near and around campus, one would think the Syracuse Police Department or the Department of Public Safety would at least increase their presence in these neighborhoods and make an effort to be proactive in preventing these types of situations.

This, however, has not happened. SPD presence in these areas does not fulfill their mission of preventing crime, understanding the community and providing a professional service, perfectly emphasized and illustrated by the video of one officer seemingly sleeping in his car. This is infuriating and feels like SPD is sitting back as crime around campus continues to occur. Officers must actually do their jobs if they want to stop violence and burglaries.    

“You’re a protector — that’s your job. So if you’re not doing it that’s very concerning,” Trivedi said about police in the Syracuse area. “[Officers] need to take accountability for what their job is and holding others accountable.”

Lourdes Morales, a Spanish teaching assistant at SU, was a senior during the 2019-20 school year and she saw significant negative change in how the community saw policing in the wake of numerous racist and homophobic incidents, she said.

“It really changed the way the community engaged with DPS, who believed the incidents were being handled appropriately,” she said. “There wasn’t enough communication between them and the community. It was a time that everyone felt unsafe on campus, especially if you were a minority. I felt unsafe especially as a woman, an international student and a Latina.”

Morales said she questioned the ability of DPS to protect her and her peers, and she also said she knew that she would have to take actions to protect herself because DPS wouldn’t.

“I didn’t necessarily think that [DPS] would protect me in some situations,” she said. “I became more cognizant that I might have to take actions for myself or my peers. We all want to believe that the resources we have on campus are here to protect us, but we acknowledge that many times they don’t.”

As an instructor, Morales said she is concerned for her students’ safety on the weekends, knowing that many of them go out in off-campus neighborhoods. Morales also lives in an off-campus neighborhood, and she said she feels unsafe where she lives.

“I don’t feel safe currently where I live, especially now that it’s getting darker earlier. It gets really dark around this area, and I don’t see a lot of people. I walk my dog at night, and I make sure to always walk him with someone else,” she said.

The SU community should not be forced to settle in regards to being protected on and off-campus. Safety is nonnegotiable; it is the university’s duty to ensure it for students and staff. Not doing so is a fundamental failure of the SU administration’s obligations.

To combat these issues, both SPD and DPS must be more vigilant while on duty, especially since the police presence at its current level isn’t doing enough to ensure safety and prevent criminal activity.

Our neighborhoods are becoming unsafe. Students should not have a fear of leaving campus, nor should they be in fear of being burglarized. Unless DPS and SPD prove they can keep the community safe, students will continue to feel unsafe at SU.

John Hepp is a freshman sports analytics major. His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at jwhepp@syr.edu.

Published on November 2, 2021 at 10:54 pm