How important is it to be safe? How much do people value that? The management of Youngstown State University (YSU) and Wright State University (WSU) might soon find out. In a turn of tragic proportions, 12 people were killed at a fraternity house at YSU. According to Yahoo News, the suspects have turned themselves in and will have already been in front of a judge by the time you read this.
On Feb. 4, a couple days before the shooting, the Dayton Daily News reported that “a Wright State University student was sexually assaulted on the university’s campus” by a man who forced her into a car and then sexually assaulted her.
Crimes are more likely to occur in more highly populated areas, obviously, and both of those schools are large. But even if there is a police officer on each corner of every campus or city block, even that might not guarantee that these crimes will stop.
It’s a facet of life. Crime has occurred in every nation in the history of mankind. Protecting yourself is important. Lock your car doors. Don’t go out alone at night in a seedier part of town. Always have your cell phone charged (or, buy a car charger). If you want to carry a firearm, do it legally and we’ll have no problem with that.
Now, we’re lucky here at Sinclair Community College to be safe. There are lots and lots of people here, but the Campus Police have such a presence that crime can be held down. We heard from an officer that criminals have told the police they intentionally avoid Sinclair because of the police presence.
That’s great. But it isn’t a guarantee of anything. Still, when Chief of Campus Police, Charles Gift, told the Clarion that the campus was the safest place in the Miami Valley, the facts didn’t disagree. There have been no recent serious crimes on campus. The schools have to release that information by law.
These crimes are horrible. And, in the afterglow of the tragedies, it’s hard to see that any good can come of them. But, maybe this leads to people being more observant; maybe this leads the schools to spending more on crime prevention.
After all, no one wants to be afraid.