It is a shared responsibility between Syracuse University and the city of Syracuse to ensure the safety of the student body.

Many SU students choose to live in local, non-university-affiliated housing after fulfilling their two-year on-campus housing requirement. With the move off campus comes an increased risk of being a victim of a crime, and increased efforts on behalf of both the Department of Public Safety and the city of Syracuse can help minimize these threats to students.

Three SU students reported being victims of off-campus crimes this past weekend. An SU student reported an attempted strong arm robbery on the 700 block of Lancaster Ave. on Friday night and two students reported off-campus sexual offenses early Sunday morning, police said.

When working to combat these crimes, DPS has the capacity to make strides in student safety, but for students living off campus or walking off campus, the city and SPD must play a greater, more collaborative role.

Efforts to make sure every street surrounding the university is well lit would be a good move to lessen off-campus crime. Well-lit areas make students and other local residents feel safe and could be an effective measure to discourage attacks that primarily take place in poorly lit areas. Since these areas aren’t part of the university, it would fall to the city to take action and improve street lighting.

While local departments should take steps to create a more secure vicinity surrounding the SU campus, students also have a responsibility to know when to reach out to these resources to ensure a safe means of getting home.

Students are in no way at fault in any situation in which they are attacked; however, the student body should take advantage of the programs, mobile applications and ride services that are put in place to ensure their own safety. These include DPS escort services, the LiveSafe mobile app and Shuttle-U-Home, which transports members of the university community who reside off campus within a designated geographic zone.

Once students move out of their dorm or South Campus apartment, they need to be aware of the fact that they are living in the city of Syracuse, not on campus. But regardless of whether students are walking to the Brewster, Boland and Brockway complex or to their home on Euclid Avenue, all students must be able to get home safely with the support of local safety forces.

Published on October 27, 2015 at 12:22 am

Contact: opinion@dailyorange.com