Last Friday, members of the Penn community received UPennAlert text messages and e-mails telling them of an assault on campus. The notification was welcome communication of a dangerous incident in an area where students and faculty live, study and work.
Not welcome, however, were the misinformation and lack of detail that appeared in the alerts and the delay between the time of the incident and the time the alert was sent.
The alert gave an incorrect location for the attack and was sent close to an hour after it took place. It also neglected to mention that the assault was a stabbing. While the Division of Public Safety said there was a lag in sending the alert in order to ensure accuracy, there were still problems with the message.
DPS should work to get accurate information faster to students in a more timely manner. In the case of an assault where the suspect left the crime scene, the sooner the community is notified, the greater ability people will have to take necessary safety precautions. It should not take as long as it did to verify a situation that was reported and recorded on video. A few minutes and a few blocks may not seem like much, but when there are threats to people’s safety, every detail counts.
Hopefully, there will never be another circumstance that warrants the activation of the UPennAlert system. But if there is a next time, the alert should come sooner and without any errors. It’s important for the community to trust those who work to keep us safe. Having quick and accurate information can keep campus trusting in DPS.
The statement asking DPS to work with law enforcement has been removed from this editorial. DPS is law enforcement.
