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Burglaries on Syracuse University’s South Campus have become increasingly more common this year, causing residents to grow concerned for their safety. 

SU’s Department of Public Safety’s annual report revealed that burglaries on Syracuse University’s campus were 16 times higher in 2020 than in 2019. This September, DPS sent a series of emails to students, remarking on an investigation into a series of burglaries on South Campus. 

Since Aug. 22, 382 total crimes have been reported on SU’s campus and in surrounding neighborhoods, according to DPS’s Daily Crime Log. Of these, 53 occurred on South Campus, and nine of the 53 were larcenies or burglaries. 

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MORE COVERAGE:

• SU student arrested for possession of firearm after report of gunshots on Euclid
• Video shows group attacking individual close to Marshall Street
• Number of burglaries on SU campus is over 16 times higher in 2020 than in 2019
• 17-year-old arrested in connection to South Campus burglary on Wednesday
• SPD and DPS respond to attempted burglary at University Village Apartments

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DPS arrested a 17-year-old unaffiliated with the university in connection to one of the break-ins on South Campus in late September.

Some students said they have become increasingly more aware of their safety on campus in general, especially after an assault took place near Marshall Street on Oct. 15 and a shooting took place on Euclid Avenue over the weekend. 

SU’s Student Association held a town hall on Oct. 20 with DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado to discuss safety on campus. While the forum focused on the assault near campus, students expressed concerns for their general safety on campus, including in South Campus apartments. 

Students are worried about their safety, and many added that South Campus is easily accessible by foot. South Campus security requires students who drive to swipe their SUID at night before entering, but there are no other precautions that prevent strangers and other SU students from walking or taking the bus to the area.

“In dorms you have security, so it would be nice if something was implemented on South. Because, clearly, the card system isn’t working,” said Madison Segarnick, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. “You can just walk onto South and walk into people’s apartments.”

Emily Waterman, a freshman in Arts and Sciences, said she takes extra precautions in order to keep herself safe.

“When my dad was here, he bought this automatic lock to put on the door, and I still lock my door from the inside sometimes because it’s so easy for random people to just walk onto South,” Waterman said. “It honestly makes me really nervous.”

Some students had disagreements with their roommates over the safety of their apartments. Waterman said her roommate does not lock their door at night, which makes her feel stressed and unsafe.

Madeline Pietrowski, a sophomore in Arts and Sciences, said some roommates disagree about how they respond to recent crimes, particularly when it comes to locking doors.

“I’ve noticed that, for some people, their roommates are either really super careful and like to lock their stuff, but I guess for me and others, maybe I am used to keeping the doors open, so it has definitely caused some tension between roommates,” Pietrowski said.

Skyy McQueen, a senior in Arts and Sciences, feels like her safety is in jeopardy and that SU has been keeping students in the dark.

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“It’s confusing. (The crime) started happening out of nowhere,” McQueen said. “I feel like it happens more than we know or closer to us than we realize. I think the school kind of hides or lies to us, so I feel like we never really know what’s actually going on.”

Other students said they are unaware of the recent crimes. Rashard Hall, a senior studying communications and rhetorical studies, had no idea that burglaries were happening on South Campus. Cade Lipsey, a sophomore in Arts and Sciences, was also unphased.

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“I am not very good about checking my emails, so I haven’t been paying attention to if they were happening near me or around me,” Lipsey said. “I haven’t noticed it affecting my life, mainly because I haven’t been super aware, which is probably a bad thing.”

Some students, even though they know about the crime, still expressed they felt safe while living on South Campus.

Jordyn Quackenbush, a sophomore in Falk College, told The Daily Orange that she is not concerned for her safety and goes about her day like normal.

Kari Wilson, a sophomore in Arts and Sciences who recently moved to South Campus, said she feels uncomfortable about the crime rate on campus. But she took measures, such as placing a stick in her back door to prevent it from being opened, to ensure she feels safe while at home.

Some students said the areas closer to the main road are less safe. Sarah Haney, a sophomore in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said she hardly ever locked her door when she lived on Winding Ridge Road last year. Now, on Small Road, she feels less safe.

“If you live up on Winding Ridge or up near there, no one is going to take the time to walk all the way up there to break into (the apartments),” she said. “On Small Road or Chinook (Drive) and down by (University Village Apartments on Colvin), it’s right by the street and the neighborhoods, and so it’s such an easy walk to just enter those apartments.”

In general, students said they felt safest farther away from the entrance to South Campus. But, either way, students said they felt South Campus is an easy target for burglars with little monitoring to prevent them. Angela Giaconia, a sophomore in Arts and Sciences, said she feels safe living on Slocum Heights, but she is constantly aware of the crimes.

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“The way that South Campus is set up, it’s really easy for people to come in,” Giaconia said. “It’s always in the back of my mind that ‘sh*t, I could be robbed.’”

Published on October 25, 2021 at 12:13 am

Contact Karoline: kaleonar@syr.edu