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In the past week, University of Louisville students have received three separate “Crime Alerts” in their e-mail inboxes informing them of recent crimes which have occurred on campus. Each one of these e-mails described a person being accosted and robbed at gun or knifepoint on or near campus late at night.

Crime Alerts have become an important and useful tool in making students aware of the dangers that lurk around campus. The Department of Public Safety is to be commended for the use of these.

But the fact that in one week, three students were bullied and robbed with a weapon is unacceptable.

Though DPS does a good job of keeping the campus safe, it is blaringly obvious there are many improvements to be made.

The Louisville Cardinal published an article several weeks ago revealing many of the security cameras around campus do not function and those that do are not constantly supervised.

DPS’ first concern should be to have working cameras, as well as hiring someone to watch the happenings on campus.

Secondly, DPS is seemingly understaffed, considering the fact officers are only seen when a crime has occurred. Increased manpower and patrolling would do much to alleviate and ameliorate the crime problem at U of L.

Also, the UofL Alert emergency notification system needs an upgrade. About 6,880 students at U of L currently receive text messaging and that simply isn’t enough to produce effective results.

But the fault lies just as much with students on campus. When DPS issues a Crime Alert, students must read and be aware of the severity of the event that has occurred.

Each of the students who were robbed, reported they were walking alone at night.

In each of the Crime Alerts issued, DPS reminded students to never be alone at night, always travel in groups and do not leave until everyone in the group has made it to their car safely.

Once in an uncomfortable situation, there may not be much one can do except be sure to take mental notes of the perpetrator’s looks. An accurate description will help lead the police to an arrest.

Events like these make it clear that more severe acts of crime are easily possible.

At least one of the robberies that occurred was carried out with the use of a handgun.

It is paramount students be aware of their surroundings and avoid situations in which they will be alone. Following the guidelines set by DPS will help to keep students safe and stop the rise in crime on campus.