EDITORIAL: Better safe than sorry

The technological improvementsThe technological improvementsrecommended by Director ofThe technological improvementsrecommended by Director ofSecurity Services Chris AlgardThe technological improvementsrecommended by Director ofSecurity Services Chris Algardshould be implemented as soonThe technological improvementsrecommended by Director ofSecurity Services Chris Algardshould be implemented as soonas possible.The technological improvementsrecommended by Director ofSecurity Services Chris Algardshould be implemented as soonas possible.______________________________ However, rather than representing novel approaches to the chronic problems inherent to the University's West Philadelphia location, the strategies outlined in these documents have usually been nothing more than rearrangements of the same old crime prevention methods. Even the progress University President Judith Rodin promised in her master safety plan, released last February, has failed to materialize. The "Community Walks," with their postage-stamp-size signs and little additional lighting, are hardly distinguishable from ordinary campus thoroughfares. And don't forget about the safety kiosks, information booths that would be better used as stationary lanterns. Putting a floodlight bulb in each kiosk and flipping a switch each night would deter assailants who sought to attack students near campus -- and would keep Allied guards and University Police on their pedestrian patrol routes. We commend the University's decision to upgrade the blue-light security phones dispersed around campus and on surrounding street corners and buildings. These devices provide crime victims with the help they so desperately need in emergency situations -- and unfortunately, are neither logically placed nor monitored for functionality. But the new technologies Algard is examining -- portable, solar-powered, cellular emergency phones and high-speed computer-controlled security cameras -- should be used in addition to, not instead of, existing foot and bicycle patrols and the blue-light phone network. Still, if Algard's suggestions are subjected to the University norm of appraisal and enactment by committee, they won't be in place until most undergraduates have gone home for the summer. The sorority sisters living in houses on Walnut and Spruce streets are already familiar with the snail's pace of this process. These women have been waiting since October for the University to install more lighting and trim their curbside shrubs in conjunction with major off-campus realtors. Securing an urban campus like ours is an ongoing effort, and we realize that Public Safety Managing Director Tom Seamon and University Police are working hard to decrease crime in University City. Algard's recommendations are an excellent starting point for Seamon and his department. But they must also be an inspiration for further, sustained, University-wide action on the issue of campus safety.