{"id":1551,"date":"2012-11-15T17:29:38","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T17:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2012-11-15T17:29:38","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T17:29:38","slug":"theft-tops-the-list-of-campus-crime-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/2012\/11\/15\/theft-tops-the-list-of-campus-crime-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"Theft tops the list of campus crime reports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Re-enactment of JSU student being robbed on campus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Diamond Jenkins<\/strong>
\nBlue & White Flash \/ Associate Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Campus crime and public safety have been the recent topics of discussion at Jackson State University.\u00a0 The newest crime wave seems to involve theft, particularly of iPads.<\/p>\n

Following the November student government association meeting and after a local television story about robbery and theft, more emphasis seems to be focused on awareness and being able to differentiate students from non-students.\u00a0 Beginning in January 2013, all faculty, staff and students must have their JSU IDs visible.<\/p>\n

Jessica Knight, a senior biology major from Chicago, Ill. said, \u201cI am a night student. I commute from Vicksburg and to see strangers at night walking around asking for money, it is creepy. I don\u2019t want to come to school and deal with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chief Thomas Albright, interim director of Department of Public Safety at JSU, stated that DPS is doing all it can to decrease campus crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are more visible than we have been. The public safety department is doing its part to assure that we develop more safety precautions for campus,\u201d said Albright.<\/p>\n

Recently DPS issued a crime alert dealing with theft and protecting personal property. The alert urged students and others to not allow individuals to use your cell phone, not to carry large amounts of cash, to always lock doors and not provide opportunity for theft by leaving vehicles or valuables unattended.\u00a0 Individuals also were urged to report crimes as soon as they happen to appropriate authorities.<\/p>\n

A JSU public safety official reported that iPads have been the highest case of items stolen even though the iPads are disabled when reported stolen. Judicial Services added that there has also been an increase in the number of disorderly conduct and alcohol and drug cases.<\/p>\n

JSU\u2019s groundbreaking iPad project, sponsored through a partnership with the Mississippi e-Center Foundation, gave all first-time, full-time JSU freshmen an iPad to assist in their learning. The program, called the iPad Technology Advantage Scholarship Initiative, is being used to integrate the device into the curriculum, and will track students\u2019 learning through an intensive two-year study.\u00a0 However, some students who have iPads have been targeted by thieves.<\/p>\n

Ta\u2019Keisha Hoyle, a freshman criminal justice major from Ashland, Miss. and a friend were both robbed at gunpoint of their iPads in the McAllister\/Transitional parking lot last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that JSU Public Safety sucks.\u00a0 They seemed unconcerned about what had just happened to us and there was no sense of urgency by them to go find the perpetrators.\u00a0 They took their time.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that even though it only took one day to get a replacement iPad, DPS has not followed up or contacted her with any updates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that the only reason that campus police is issuing crime alerts now is because it was brought to the attention of the media,\u201d said Hoyle.
\nAnother JSU student also shared his experience with being a victim of campus crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on the plaza and I was jumped by about seven people who did not look to be students. They took everything I had and it was a very humiliating experience,\u201d said the sophomore history major from Jackson, Miss. who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n

SGA Chief Justice Jeremy Sanford believes that students should know that there are serious consequences for committing crimes on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SGA has actively been getting handbooks to students explaining the consequences of certain offenses on campus.\u00a0 We have found that many are unaware of the penalties and sanctions of theft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other freshmen feel that more needs to be done to inform students of what to do when they are victims of crime on campus.<\/p>\n

Marquis Patterson, a freshman criminal justice major from Greenwood, Miss., said: \u201cAs a freshman, I am new to knowing what to do if I get something stolen on campus. After attending the SGA meeting I know a lot more. My classmates should be more careful with leaving their iPads around and having them out all the time.<\/p>\n

Lasondra Granderson, a graduate forensics major from Mobile, Ala. said, \u201cIf we don\u2019t have enough safety guidelines on campus then more and more students will be victims of robberies. It seems like, as of late, I have been hearing more stories about students having items stolen from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

To communicate vital information campus wide to students, faculty and staff before, during and after hazardous events — including acts of violence, dangerous weather, natural disasters, and public health emergencies, JSU has implemented the Everbridge Aware for Campus Alerts Emergency Notification System (ENS. All students are urged to sign up to receive important alerts and updates.<\/p>\n

According to campussafetymagazine.com, the violence at HBCUs typically involves a non-enrolled person and an enrolled student. The majority of these confrontations take place off-campus. Going back at least 25 years, there has been a significant increase in violence on American college campuses. HBCUs have not been spared.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, HBCUs have not experienced the types of mass shootings that have occurred at predominately white institutions such as Virginia Tech.<\/p>\n

Public Safety currently has 18-24 officers on duty per shift. To report a campus crime, contact the Department of Public safety at (601) 979-2580.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diamond Jenkins Blue & White Flash \/ Associate Editor Campus crime and public safety have been the recent topics of discussion at Jackson State University.\u00a0 The newest crime wave seems to involve theft, particularly of iPads. Following the November student government association meeting and after a local television story about robbery and theft, more emphasis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-campus-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}