As a Troy student, I'm sure by now we've all heard about the student who was robbed at gunpoint on campus late Wednesday night. If you haven't heard, well yes, a student was robbed at gunpoint on the campus.
Now, of course, I'm not crazy enough to think that any city will ever be 100% crime free. However, the school that we pay thousands to each year should be doing more to ensure the safety of its students.
It's been roughly two days since the incident took place. Ever since I heard the news about the robbery, I've taken notice of the number of campus security officers riding around throughout the day, ticketing cars parked in the wrong lots. Do you know what I haven't seen? Security at night. I haven't just seen a campus policeman at night, patrolling, watching out for the students who live on campus that have to walk to the dining hall to eat each night.
I'm not saying that there is absolutely no one around at night, but I've been at Troy for over a year...and I have yet to see a nighttime campus policeman at night.
On Troy's campus police website, it does say that there are police available 24/7. However, these patrolmen should be more noticeable. If your students don't see you from time to time and know that you're there, how will they know you're actually available to them?
The campus library doesn't close until 2 a.m. on most days of the week. Coincidently, this is where the armed robbery took place on our campus. This area of campus isn't exactly well lit so it makes sense that this is where the perpetrator waited to strike. We need patrolmen in places like this.
I know that every single one can't be on duty all the time and they can't be everywhere all the time; however, the priority of campus police SHOULD NOT be parking tickets. It should be the safety of each student.
I'm not saying that this on campus robbery could have been avoided, but the presence of more police officers on campus can help scare away any potential threats. If there is a high risk of being caught, most of these criminals won't target us.
I just think that as a university, we can do better.
This school has so many sources of income, and I believe that some of it should be put towards improving the overall safety of the Troy students. There are blue light polls spread throughout campus in case of emergency, but these lights are placed at random spots throughout campus. There should be more, and they should be placed in places that are highly populated. For instance, we should have them outside of the dining halls, around TC, near the dorms, etc.
