RUPD issues warning to students after FIVE crime alerts this semester alone
The last alert was for an aggravated assault which happened on Saturday night
Only a few weeks into the semester and RUPD has since issued five crime alerts despite University efforts to keep crime rates low.
Most recently, RUPD issued an alert for a aggravated assault that took place Saturday night on Huntington Street.
The victim was not a university student but reported “that while walking he was approached by three male perpetrators one of which struck him with a blunt object following an incident at an off campus residence.”
According to reports, the perpetrators fled and the victim sustained minor injuries. Days earlier, another crime alert was sent out for an attempted robbery at the Amsterdam Smoke Shop on Easton Ave.
Although the city of New Brunswick is no stranger to crime, students are once again on edge since approximately 10,000 students currently reside in the 5th and 6th wards of New Brunswick.
Just last semester, RUPD and New Brunswick police department were investigating another string of robberies that occurred on several off-campus locations.
Senior Kevin Giorgianni told The Tab last semester his house on Senior Street was broken into and that the burglars “took a couple xbox 360s, a bunch of games, a go pro, a GameCube, an iPad, and some other small stuff.”
Although students are well-aware of campus crime alerts, to the point that it’s almost the new normal, it’s questionable whether all off-campus robberies get reported.
Kevin said: “We didn’t report it. I had zero confidence anything would happen if we did. I figured no one ever gets caught. We kinda just brushed it off because they didn’t take anything essential.”
Rutgers has made attempts to increase efforts to provide a safer environment for students on and off campus. Earlier this month, RUPD Chief Kenneth Cop, released an email to all students announcing a new system developed with RUSA, in which students could now text Rutgers Police with concerns or requests. Students can text “RUNB” and their message to 69050.
Rutgers has also implemented other services and methods to improve campus safety, including:
- Providing escorts on request to anyone who wish to have someone accompany them to their vehicle, campus residence or the University’s mass transit system.
- Increasing its public safety presence in the College Avenue and Nichol Avenue area on each night during the school year
The RUPD and New Brunswick Police Department have also formed a Neighborhood Police Team to patrol New Brunswick together every night. They’ve increased the number of patrols in the Cook/Douglass campus area, have set up a text system which allows students to report crime 24/7, and have installed 2,700 security cameras on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus.
Whether the measures will be enough to deter future crime waves remains to be seen.