Staff Editorial: Students can help fight crime

In response to a series of crimes on and around campus, the Duke Police Department is considering paying graduate students $10 per hour to help patrol campus and increase security. Similar programs have worked at other universities, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With some changes, the program could become a feasible addition to Duke's safety arsenal.

DUPD is correct in recognizing that current safety precautions are insufficient, and that any remedies must, to be successful, be part of a larger commuity-wide effort. The most obvious option would be contracting additional campus security officers who could patrol and check buildings and the like. However, this would be extremely expensive, and is unlikely to be implemented any time soon.

Given these circumstances, hiring students seems like a reasonable alternative. Students will not be asked to do anything dangerous, nor will they be allowed to engage suspicious individuals or enter dubious situations. Their role will be restricted to patrolling campus or standing watch in buildings, and they will be trained only to spot suspicious activities and radio DUPD to respond. Though added campus security forces would be ideal, these are not tasks beyond the capability of a graduate, or for that matter, and undergraduate student.

Without question, students should undergo comprehensive training before being hired to patrol. They should be trained in the use of radios, general campus security procedures and in the specifics of identifying criminal behavior. In addition, it should also be stressed that any attempt on the part of students to intervene in situations directly, unless under dire circumstances, will not be tolerated.

Furthermore, the positions should be opened to undergraduates. Safety is a community issue, and undergraduates have the largest stake in it, as they are the actual residents of the campus. We live, work and study here, often moving around campus in the early hours of the morning--we should be responsible for monitoring our safety. The job could be huge time commitments for both graduates and undergraduates, and to be a success, it is likely that the program will need to draw participants from both pools.

The fact remains that Duke is not as safe as it should be. The recent mugging in the Bryan Center, thefts from the Bryan Center and Richard White Lecture Hall, assualts in dormitory bathrooms and similar crimes on or near East Campus highlight the need for more comprehensive security measures. The City of Durham, for all its strengths, brings one big weakness--the prevalence of crime.

While students may not be the first or most obvious choice to shore up campus security, the student patrol program is a reasonable option that will increase the overall safety of campus, while fostering a greater awareness of security concerns in the student community. Similar programs have succeeded elsewhere, and there is no reason the same cannot be said here at Duke.