Is it just me, or has there been a lot more crime on campus this year?

We’ve had a little bit of everything, from gunmen to robbers to sexual assaults. The list could go on.

One thing that has been stirring up some controversy among the student population is how the crimes are reported to students.

Under the current system, emails are sent out to all affiliated with N.C. State to make everyone aware of imminent threats. In the email, there is a brief description of the crime along with a vague description of the suspect including his/her complexion.

Some students feel printing the race of the suspect would be helpful in apprehending him.

Others feel printing the race of the suspect would target all people of the same race as being criminals.

How detailed should these descriptions be? Should Campus Police include the race, or should they just stick with the current system of describing suspects as being light- or dark-complexioned?

While I do believe an improvement needs to be made to the current system and more detailed descriptions should be given, I don’t believe race should be the main descriptor. All we really need to know is skin tone-whether it is light, dark or somewhere inbetween.

Instead, we need to have information such as whether the suspect has any tattoos or piercings, an estimate of body weight and height, hair color and length, and even eye color. Clothing descriptions could be helpful too, but they should be used with caution because we often get crime warnings so long after the crime that it is probable that the suspect changed clothing.

Right now, the ambiguity of the crime warnings makes it possible that anybody could have committed the crime. Offering just a description of “light-complexioned male “is about as effective as telling someone to look for the guy in the hat at a baseball game.

Most kinds of media provide detailed descriptions of crimes and criminals, and often they lead to arrests. Why doesn’t Campus Police do this as well?

The ineffectiveness of our campus warning system is opening the door for crime to happen. If we were to send out victims’ descriptions to the tens of thousands of people associated with the University, it would provide the police department with a valuable resource to help apprehend the suspect.

Send Kaitlyn your thoughts on the campus police notification system to [email protected].