Student talks to officers

Nicole Ginsburg does not feel safe anymore. Yesterday afternoon, as part of her effort to make the University community safer, the College junior told University Police officers her concerns at their 3 p.m. roll call. After her house was robbed in November for the second time in a year and a half, Ginsburg decided to take action. "All of a sudden, I got really scared?" she said. "I decided that we really needed to get some students active to try and put [safety] as a community effort, to try to get everyone involved to improve the safety on campus." Ginsburg said she spoke to the officers "to emphasize that the students and the residents are genuinely getting scared." But she stressed that she did not want officers to think she was there simply to blame them for what she sees as the school's safety problem. "I'm not here to accuse, I'm here to actually ask for help," Ginsburg said. "You're the ones who are the integral part of this. You're the ones on the streets." Ginsburg said she wants the officers to be seen by students, acting as a "visible deterrent." Officers also offered their comments and suggestions to Ginsburg, who asked for them during her talk. Officer Tony Ramos offered one explanation for why officers are not always seen. "We're short-staffed," he said. "[But,] we are out there." Ginsburg tied the officers' visibility to students taking action. She emphasized the need to work together to prevent crime. David Ball, president of the University's chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, agreed with Ginsburg's statements. "[It's] a good idea to address your concerns to the commissioner because some of the directives we get are things that?don't necessarily reflect what the community or the students really want." Ginsburg said student complaints can be more effective than those from officers. "They can put your job over your head, they can put nothing over my head," she said. Officer Margaret O'Malley suggested a ride-along program to enable students to get a better sense of what an officer's job entails. Ramos suggested meetings between students and officers on the street. Reaction to Ginsburg's talk was positive. Ball said he liked the idea of the community's interacting with the police force. "That's what the thrust of policing should be," he said. Ball also criticized the University Police mini-station, located at 39th and Walnut streets, saying "there should be a police presence there." According to Ball, the mini-station should be used as an avenue for people in the community to communicate with the police. "I think it's great," O'Malley said of Ginsburg's involvement. "I'm glad that there are some students out there who have some input or would like to have some input. It's important." "I thought it went really well," Sergeant Keith Christian said. "I thought it was a good give and take session between her and the officers." The idea for Ginsburg's talk came out of a conversation with Christian at a town meeting held last week. Ginsburg is trying to set up a Town Watch program to integrate people from the community to improve safety in the area. In addition, she is trying to set up more community talks and programs with the officers.