Michael Barrett, associate director of Public Safety, said that the amount of theft and burglary in the area surrounding the St. Thomas campus is on the rise.
On Friday, Jan. 20, an armed robbery occurred at SuperAmerica on the corner of Grand and Cleveland avenues, and on Friday, Feb. 3, Public Safety issued an alert about an unidentified male who was spotted looking into the windows of two houses on the 1900 block of Grand Avenue.
“There has been a trend in residential burglaries,” Barrett said. “Burglaries and bike theft are up, and a higher percent of people are home when these burglaries occur.”
Senior Matt Larson lived off campus during his sophomore and junior years, but after three separate incidents at his houses, he decided to move home with his parents in Plymouth, Minn.
“The first house I lived in my sophomore year got broken into twice,” Larson said. “My junior year, I moved across the highway. When I lived there, we got broken into. Every time we got broken into it was during the winter. My TV, my XBOX and my laptop all got stolen.
“I basically lost all my possessions, and so I had no money. I didn’t think it was worth it to keep paying rent if I was going to keep getting all of my stuff stolen.”
To help make students aware of safety concerns, Public Safety provides an Emergency Alert System that sends a text message and an email whenever a serious incident takes place on or off campus.
However, some students said that they were shocked at how slow they received the alerts for the recent SuperAmerica robbery. At 2:50 a.m., the armed robber was in, out and missing in five seconds, according to the security cameras that spotted him, Barrett said. Students were not alerted for another hour or so, depending on their cellular provider.
“Text and email is good, but the (SuperAmerica) threat was over before I even knew about it,” sophomore Mylissa Bringgold said. “We need faster response time.”
Some students were disappointed with the absence of alert messaging.
“I did not get a text, though I was signed up for it,” freshman Adam Holtz said. “It needs to be fixed.”
Barrett said that “technology isn’t instantaneous” and that “it needs time to catch up,” but he said things would be different if there was a known danger on campus.
“(Public Safety) will hit the pavement,” Barrett said. “Knocking on doors with a bull horn in the quad.”
Barrett said that students must be aware of their surroundings and also need to prepare themselves for anything that could happen.
Students with any information on the SuperAmerica robbery or future crimes can report it to Public Safety by emailing PSTIPS@stthomas.edu or calling (651) 962-8477.
Laura Landvik can be reached at land7854@stthomas.edu.