 "Photo: Steven Gold")
Junior Veronica Tucker said she remembers the chilling walks to her residence hall freshman year. She said getting to Dickinson Hall requires traveling through a long, desolate road some students have named the "Rape Trail." Tucker said after dark, the poorly lit road lined with trees is a potential breeding ground for offenders.
"There were many times I walked back by myself and thought, 'Oh my God, I'm going to get killed here,'" Tucker said.
Expanded security is on the rise at the university, with an increase in police officers, extended patrolling in certain areas and plans to install additional security cameras, James Flatley, director of Public Safety, said.
Flatley said security cameras are currently most prevalent in parking lots and garages, but absent in residence halls. He said the university is looking into additional security cameras, but does not know if their locations will include residence halls.
Jonathan Kassa, executive director of the national non-profit organization Security on Campus, Inc., said security cameras can only add to college campus safety, but their effectiveness truly lies in the nature of viewing the tapes.
Flatley said Public Safety's communication staff is responsible for monitoring the videos and reviewing them after an incident occurs. He said while the communication faculty is staffed 24 hours per day, the videos are not constantly monitored. Staff members are simultaneously in charge of answering phone calls, dispatching and other duties, Flatley said.
He said the department of Public Safety has taken internal action in response to recent crimes surrounding campus.
"Police officers are strategically placed in certain locations on certain nights of the week," Flatley said.
He said 12 new police officers were hired this semester and will patrol independently in November. This increase brings the number of officers to 50, which is seven more than previously permitted, Flatley said.
Kassa said blue light emergency phones and security cameras are two important facets of campus security.
"They are a great backbone to any comprehensive system but shouldn't be a stand-alone solution," Kassa said. "No matter how many bells and whistles you have, it's only as good as the people who implement them."
He said crime is inevitable on college campuses and the response of the university makes the difference.
Flatley said student-police aides patrol Christiana Towers on Friday and Saturday nights, and this type of security is not likely to expand.
"To my knowledge, there are no plans to have security officers in any residence halls," he said.
Flatley said the approximately 300 blue light emergency phones scattered around campus for students' safety are tested at least once per year to ensure they are in working order.
Junior Allison Ruppino said the presence of blue light phones lessen her fear of walking alone at night.
"Since the police can't be there all the time, it's the best solution to fixing that problem of walking alone and feeling unsafe," Ruppino said.
Christine Viggiano, a freshman living in Dickinson, said she does not feel safe walking home alone at night on what she, too, calls the "Rape Trail."
"At night when the train goes by, you can't hear anything, and if something were to happen and someone was calling for help, you wouldn't be able to hear them," Viggiano said.
She said she knows of only one blue light phone across from the entrance of the lengthy road to Dickinson.
"If I felt threatened and thought something would happen, by the time I got to a blue light and picked up the receiver, it will have already happened," Viggiano said.
Flatley said police officers have always patrolled the Rodney Complex area and will continue, but not due to incidences on the trail.
"That name started years ago and prevails year after year," Flately said. "It's an undeserving name."
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