Last year during the SC elections, an idea was proposed to involve students with Public Safety. A lot of support for this idea was generated by incidents like the roaming groper who harassed AU women last year. This support is justifiable and makes perfect sense if one recalls the sense of fear that was present on campus last year - especially among female students.
This year, the idea of including students in Public Safety is becoming a reality. There are now students who will patrol campus, keeping an eye on what is going on and making our environment safer.
For students who are on campus late at night because of work, class assignments or extracurricular activities, it adds another level of comfort while walking across campus, knowing that someone is there in case anything should happen.
While many students have never felt unsafe at AU, it is still a relief to know there will be a larger security presence.
There are also expectations that the increased surveillance will reduce the number of vandalism incidents and sexual crimes.
It is definitely good to know that new steps are being taken to observe what goes on.
It is important to note that student volunteers will be distinguished from Public Safety officers by having different uniforms, and lacking badges and the ability to arrest anyone. This should put to rest any reservations about vigilantism.
Having student eyes watching when Public Safety isn't necessarily around will also certainly limit the opportunities for criminals to pick out easy victims. This will also help prevent crime, because criminals look for easy targets.
Since the students cannot intercede anyway due to legal issues, they will be more like "roving RAs," simply notifying real officers when there's a problem. The more eyes that are open, the fewer crimes will slip by unnoticed.
