Penn Watch looks for crime

With the addition of bicycle patrol units and increased recruitment efforts, leaders of PennWatch -- the Ivy League's first student-run town watch organization -- hope the increased visibility will lead to lower on- and off-campus crime. The organization will hold a recruitment meeting Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. in Houston Hall's Harrison Room. PennWatch members communicate possible crimes to student chiefs who have direct radio access to the University Police Department. They patrol the areas between 39th and 41st streets, and from Chestnut Street to Baltimore Street, as well as between 41st and 43rd streets from Walnut Street to Pine Street. The volunteers are trained to report crimes and descriptions of possible perpetrators, but are discouraged from confronting suspects at the scene. "We will not put ourselves in danger," PennWatch President and Engineering senior Shane Lipson said. "We act as eyes and ears. The goal of PennWatch is not to catch people. The goal is deterrence." This semester marks the beginning of PennWatch's bicycle patrols, the organization's newest anti-crime initiative. PennWatch members originally hoped to use old University Police bicycles; however, those bicycles proved unusable. PennWatch then petitioned the Student Activities Council and the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life for funding to purchase new bikes, according to PennWatch Treasurer and SAC Chairperson Steve Schorr, a Wharton senior. After using part of the money allocated by SAC and VPUL to pay normal club expenses, PennWatch members bought two new $500 bicycles with the remaining funds. The organization is considering holding separate training sessions for members who want to perform bicycle patrol, and have contacted Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush for advice and help with basic training, Lipson said. PennWatch officials are also in the process of expanding their outreach efforts to increase the organization's membership, which sharply decreased last year. While the organization typically has 25 members, there are currently only 10 students involved. And although PennWatch officers have said they are willing to hold training sessions for new members whenever enough students show interest, low enthusiasm has only necessitated the need for one or two training sessions in recent semester. To generate more interest and involvement, members have stepped up their recruitment efforts this semester. For the first time, PennWatch members painted an announcement about Tuesday's meeting onto a section of the wall behind The Book Store. Additionally, the organization set up information booths at last week's volunteer fair on Locust Walk and at the recent Public Safety program featuring Chicago Police Department Detective J.J. Bittenbinder. PennWatch hopes to fill administrative, dispatching and patrol positions, which are open to all undergraduate and graduate students, Lipson said. "Basically anyone who wants to join has the ability to join," he said.