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The Daily OrangeDPS issues alert for only 1 of 2 off-campus robberies
Recent incident questions boundaries of Orange Watch
By Lauren Bertolini
Posted: 2/25/08, 12:29 AM EST Section: News
Two students were robbed in separate incidents within a two-day period this month, less than a half-mile apart, yet the Department of Public Safety only issued an alert for the one that occurred on the boundary of DPS' new Orange Watch program.
Orange Watch, which debuted in May, covers Thornden Park and much of the off-campus housing area north and east of the university (see map on page 6).
A Syracuse University graduate student was robbed on the 1200 block of Madison Street, less than a block away from his home at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15, according to a report from the Syracuse Police Department. Madison Street borders Thornden Park to the north.
In response to that incident, DPS sent an e-mail alert to the SU community at 10:57 p.m. that night. The 1200 block of Madison Street is on the border of the Orange Watch patrol, according to map of Orange Watch Patrol Areas on the DPS Web site.
Anthony Callisto, chief of DPS, said that robbery occurred a block away from "where we patrol" but an alert was sent because it occurred close enough to a high-density area of student living.
Twenty-nine hours later, while waiting for the bus, another graduate student was the victim of an armed robbery on the corner of East Genesee and Pine Streets on the morning of Feb. 17, according to a SPD report.
No notification was issued after that incident because the location of the robbery was "so far away," and therefore seemed less relevant to the student population, Callisto said.
The DPS' expanded coverage areas end within a block of the intersection of East Genesee and Pine streets, according to the DPS Web site map.
DPS is only obligated to release alerts for on-campus crimes, Callisto said, citing the Jeanne Cleary Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
The act requires colleges and universities to disclose information about crimes occurring on or around their campuses.
The student in the Feb. 15 robbery was approached by two men who asked if he knew the time. The student was then physically restrained and attacked by the two men before being thrown to the ground, according to an SPD report.
Orange Watch, which debuted in May, covers Thornden Park and much of the off-campus housing area north and east of the university (see map on page 6).
A Syracuse University graduate student was robbed on the 1200 block of Madison Street, less than a block away from his home at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15, according to a report from the Syracuse Police Department. Madison Street borders Thornden Park to the north.
In response to that incident, DPS sent an e-mail alert to the SU community at 10:57 p.m. that night. The 1200 block of Madison Street is on the border of the Orange Watch patrol, according to map of Orange Watch Patrol Areas on the DPS Web site.
Anthony Callisto, chief of DPS, said that robbery occurred a block away from "where we patrol" but an alert was sent because it occurred close enough to a high-density area of student living.
Twenty-nine hours later, while waiting for the bus, another graduate student was the victim of an armed robbery on the corner of East Genesee and Pine Streets on the morning of Feb. 17, according to a SPD report.
No notification was issued after that incident because the location of the robbery was "so far away," and therefore seemed less relevant to the student population, Callisto said.
The DPS' expanded coverage areas end within a block of the intersection of East Genesee and Pine streets, according to the DPS Web site map.
DPS is only obligated to release alerts for on-campus crimes, Callisto said, citing the Jeanne Cleary Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
The act requires colleges and universities to disclose information about crimes occurring on or around their campuses.
The student in the Feb. 15 robbery was approached by two men who asked if he knew the time. The student was then physically restrained and attacked by the two men before being thrown to the ground, according to an SPD report.
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