By Paige Quiggins
University of Louisville Police Department joined forces with the Louisville Metro Police Department and cracked down on campus criminal activity.
Lt. Col. Kenny Brown of DPS said Willis McClain, a person of interest in two on-campus robberies and at least 12 acts of aggressive panhandling at the Student Activities Center, was arrested on Feb. 16 after being pulled over by LMPD on an unrelated charge.
Brown said LMPD was able to detain McClain upon discovery of an outstanding ULPD warrant.
According to Brown, McClain frequently asked people for money and rides to off-campus locations. One person who consented reported they had a gun pulled on them and was then robbed of property.
In a different incident, Stephon Hunter was arrested for one count of burglary and one count of theft by unlawful taking under $300 on Feb. 9 for allegedly stealing a wallet from a U of L student in Ford Hall. Hunter was located by a ULPD officer and then charged with burglary. Police believe the two crimes are unrelated.
Brown said it is difficult to infer if the person has committed a legal wrong-doing if they pressured someone for money without harm or threat by weapons. “Aggressive pan-handling is not per se breaking the law,” said Brown.
“I don’t think they can stop people from pan-handling,” said Simon Meiners, a junior humanities major. “This is what happens when the economy is this bad and people don’t have jobs.”
Matt Underwood said he has a personal philosophy for crime declination. Crime would decrease if criminals felt threatened by a victim who could possibly be packing heat, the sophomore political science major said. Underwood’s philosophy was adopted by finding low crime rates in cities within Utah and Virginia who allow concealed carry on college campuses.
U of L is not looking into obtaining concealed carry permits at this time, said Brown. Not just for state legislative laws, but other safety precautions as well.
“What you don’t want to do is give a criminal an avenue to come in and walk in with weapons,” said Brown.
If police are called to a situation where both parties have guns, it is not an easy task to identify the suspect objectively. “You don’t know who the good guy is and who they bad guy is,” he said.
Students are finding other means of protection.
“My husband has looked into getting me a Taser gun,” said junior English major Judy Hatton.
She said she feels safer taking daytime classes. Hatton keeps her car alarm in hand when walking to the car so she can press the panic button, if needed.
Brown stressed the importance of knowing how to handle a potentially dangerous situation when on campus. He and ULPD want the U of L public to know how McClain works so that they can know how to react in the future.
Brown encourages anyone who is pressured for money or rides on campus to call ULPD at 502-852-6111 immediately.
