Communication, alerts crucial to safety

Recent events on and around campus serve as important reminders that communication between the University and the Duke community is an essential responsibility of the administration and the Duke University Police Department.

Specifically, the murder of Charlene King at a Duke Health Clinic on North Duke Street and the alleged sexual assault on Central Campus Friday morning are recent instances in which communication between the administration and the Duke community should have been clearer.

Although Durham Police deemed King’s murder to have likely been a targeted attack, students and other members of the Duke community—such as Duke University Health System employees—should be aware of an act of violence in close proximity to the hospital or campus. A DukeAlert, notifying the Duke community via text message and e-mail, could have warned the campus of the threat.

The alleged sexual assault on Central should have also been more clearly conveyed to the community. As late as 6 p.m. Monday, it was unclear if the alleged assault was a one-time incident or a continuing threat to the University, according to DUPD Chief John Dailey in an interview.

Even if DUPD had deemed the incident a non-threat to the community, an e-mail from Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta or another administrator could have reminded students that these dangers do exist on Duke’s campus and that anonymous reporting is an option for students who are reluctant to come forward.

The DukeAlert system allows students to subscribe to a text message alert system in addition to the e-mails sent to the entire community. According to the Duke University Emergency Status website, the University seeks to send alert messages within 30 minutes of officials being notified of an emergency.

This system could be used more frequently, however. The last time the entire student body received a DukeAlert through e-mail was Jan. 30 to announce that the severe weather policy for the University and the Duke University Health System was in effect. But the campus was not alerted to events like a student reporting being sexually assaulted on West Campus last November, three former football players firing shots from a car on East Campus in January or DUPD officers fatally shooting a man in front of the Duke University Hospital in March. Without checking the campus and local news sources, Duke community members would not know about these incidents, and they only learned about these, King’s murder and the alleged rape well after they were reported to officials.

The DukeAlert system should notify the community of any instances of gunfire, aggravated assault, rape, armed robbery and murder, especially if there is any indication that the incident poses a larger threat to the University community.

The federal Clery Act of 1990 requires universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to “provide timely warnings of crimes that represent a threat to the safety of students or employees.” Duke would be wise to apply this principle a little more broadly when deciding when to inform the community of incidents on or near campus.

Of course, it is unclear how much attention people pay to DukeAlerts or other emergency communications—if most even read them at all. The University should be sure not to expand the quantity of these messages so much that they desensitize the community to crime on campus and undermine the system’s efficacy during major crises. In addition, the administration and DUPD should take care not to incite an overblown sense of danger by reporting every instance of campus crime.

Overall, however, the Duke community would benefit from the expanded use of the DukeAlert system and more frequent communication from the administration concerning important on-campus incidents.