Editorial: Turning Back the Crime Wave

Two recent shooting deaths in three days -- one of a HUP employee early Monday morning at 45th and Baltimore streets and the other at 39th Street between Market and Chestnut -- come after a mid-day attempted sexual assault last Friday and a string of armed robberies of University students over the last two months. The time has come for everyone at the University to stop hiding from the crime problem. Students have little right to complain about the crime problems in this neighborhood if they don't attempt to do anything about it. The Penn Watch student patrol, formed in 1989 in cooperation with University Police, may very well have helped to stop crime. But now -- after the national newspapers and TV crews have left and after the Greek system and the UA, which got the program going, have taken credit -- student interest in the program has fallen dramatically. It's up to the UA and the Greek community to improve publicity of Penn Watch volunteer opportunities. It's up to more students to volunteer to patrol. In the meantime, University Police can help put student fears to rest and perhaps deter crime by increasing police visibility during nighttime hours, especially on less well lit streets just off campus. After a similar crime wave last fall, University Police doubled nightime patrols for a time. While that move was exhausting for officers asked to volunteer for 12-hour shifts, it did indeed make students feel safer and may very well have prevented crime. At least it appeared that the criminals retreated.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.