The shocking rise of Gainesville armed robberies in 2015
What GPD is doing and what you can do to be safer
Going to school in a college town is one of the most irreplaceable aspects about our time away at college. The idea that most of Gainesville revolves around our beautiful University is a pretty cool thing. Unfortunately for us, students make for easy targets in armed robberies and other criminal activities that take place way too often at The University of Florida.
1400 W University Avenue, one of the many places that an armed robbery occurred
UF sends out the all too familiar “UF Alerts” when anything criminal happens on or off campus. Each alert consists of four or five separate emails regarding the same event. After a quick search of my UF email, I was able to count 15 instances of armed robberies in Gainesville throughout 2015 (each instance includes the four to five emails we receive for each event). These 15 instances occurred just blocks and sometimes even only steps away from UF’s campus. Not included in these 15 instances were a handful of sexual assaults, one residential robbery and one case of indecent exposure.
These were just things that took place on or close to campus, things handled by the UF Police Department. The Gainesville Police Department, on the other hand, has hundreds more instances of armed robberies, assaults, theft and more that have taken place recently in the greater Gainesville area. These instances can be found on a crime report map here.
1200 Southwest 3rd Avenue, the site of the November 17th armed robbery and just steps away from campus.
It was somewhat easy to ignore armed robberies until November 17th, 2015. On this seemingly average Tuesday night, an armed robbery occurred less than a block away from campus at 8pm. This is still fairly early, early enough that I and many other students had felt comfortable walking down that street an hour before, totally alone. Most of us, including me, were probably texting or listening to music. After all, armed robberies only seemed to take place in the late hours of the night. This one occurrence revealed something that should have always been common knowledge: Armed robberies can happen at any time or in any place.
Fortunately for us, the Gainesville Police Department has addressed this issue and is taking steps to change it. In a statement posted by their Facebook page, GPD has teamed up with UFPD to expand their border patrols beyond campus. According to Chief Tony Jones of GPD, “I want these armed offenders to know that we are out there watching, and students will no doubt be reassured by seeing more officers around.”
These words are positive and hopeful, yet in this same statement that encourages students, GPD acknowledges that armed robberies spiked in 2015 after steadily declining for almost a decade prior. Just this week an armed robbery occurred blocks away from campus, the first of what hopefully will not be many in 2016. Although the suspects were apprehended, the fact that this is still happening stresses the importance of reducing our chances of becoming a target. Walk in groups whenever possible and avoid talking on the phone or texting, especially at night. Always be confident and alert.
Kappa Phi Epsilon members stand on the corner of last nights armed robbery
It’s easy to ignore crime until it happens outside your door, to your friend or even to you. It’s a new year and a fresh start for UF and all of Gainesville to become safer for students and residents alike. Be vigilant and, most importantly, always trust your instinct to keep you out of trouble.