“Security on the University of Akron campus leaves something to be desired. On Monday, a female student was assaulted and robbed on the corner of Spicer and E. Exchange St. This occurred shortly after an assault under the bridge where a student was robbed of his laptop.”
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Security on the University of Akron campus leaves something to be desired. On Monday, a female student was assaulted and robbed on the corner of Spicer and E. Exchange St. This occurred shortly after an assault under the bridge where a student was robbed of his laptop. If there was more security on campus such crimes could possibly be prevented. After speaking with an anonymous officer employed by the University of Akron, I was informed that only four police officers of the city of Akron are assigned to this campus, and for the most part, they patrol the streets in their cruisers. I can give a personal account as to why this should change.

It was a lonely, late night in the lobby of the Polsky building. There I sat, innocently awaiting the arrival of my roommate, when a very intoxicated woman burst through the doors, stumbling up the stairs and muttering to herself and apparently, to some other people that were not visible to me on her way in. She approached a man I had not noticed upon my arrival. He sat in front of the television, which was mounted on a wall. By the time the woman made her way over to the man, which took a minute or two after tripping over several chairs and excusing herself from nonexistent bystanders, it became clear that she was very upset with him. I cannot be precise as to the reason why, for her verbal communication sounded rather like a combination of humming and unclear sleep talking that cannot be described any other way. This became increasingly clear as she hopelessly but violently swatted at him, missing by a mile each swing.

He was not amused. He repeatedly asked her to step aside and allow him to continue his time of relaxation which she was boisterously disrupting.

She did not appreciate the dismissal. As she blundered toward the door, she responded with a series of curses, particularly directed toward the mother of the man.

?Five minutes later, she careened through the doors in such a way to say I have arrived. Again, except she didn’t actually say anything because she was too busy careening.

She had not finished her confrontation; she crossed the cafeteria on a mission to reprimand him and began pounding on the janitor’s door, bellowing You got ten minutes! Ten minutes! Come outta there! This went on for a good 10 minutes during which the man was apparently supposed to emerge, until she realized that she was pounding on the janitor’s door, and not the bathroom where he was sheltered. ??

This is when my roommate arrived, and we left thankfully. The event was funny to watch and to recount now, but I have no idea how the situation progressed after I left.

This made me question the security of the University of Akron. It is true that students on campus have the option of calling security to escort them from one location to another at night, but what about the security within buildings?

The confrontation between the intoxicated woman and man could have escalated violently, and there would have been no one to stop it. No one came between them to intervene, and they were creating quite a scene.

So why isn’t there anyone patrolling near-empty buildings at night to keep intruders from hiding out in the buildings (Polsky in particular, being that it is downtown)? Sure, they protect the streets to the best of their ability, but what about our campus, where the majority of these crimes have occurred this year?

The University of Akron needs to implement stronger security measures to ensure the safety of students and faculty. It is frightening to think that anyone from the community can enter all buildings at any hours without authorization. Without keeping a closer watch on who enters buildings, almost anyone can come in and out as they please, and not always with the best intentions.

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