Crime in College Park has been addressed by countless SGA officials over the years, but the problem persists. In this year’s election, which ends tonight, the candidates are attempting to bring new approaches to an old issue.

All three candidates vow to tackle the issue, but many say that while the proposed plans are a step in the right direction, they have reservations about their feasibility.

The two party-affiliated candidates proposed very different approaches to the issue of public safety, taking shots at the others’ program and calling them unrealistic, ineffective or both. The topic wasn’t explicitly included in independent candidate Dan Leydorf’s platform.

HOUSE Party candidate Mardy Shualy has proposed a “Terp Watch” force of students to patrol the campus, armed with uniforms and walkie-talkies linked to police. On the other side, Students Party candidate Jonathan Sachs has proposed a “SafetyEdu” online education program to inform students about how to mitigate risks.

Leydorf called safety a “common sense” issue that any Student Government Association president will be required to tackle. He did not create a specific plan to address safety, but advocates extending the university’s transportation system to reach new areas farther from campus.

“When it comes to safety, you need to consider how to cut off the opportunity criminals have to do harm,” Leydorf said. “Stuff like improving off-campus transportation, extending cameras farther off campus – these aren’t sexy solutions but they can reduce crime.”

University and county police officials said they would be willing to work with any of the candidates to promote safety.

Shualy said College Park’s public safety problem was not a lack of information but a lack of protection, adding that the idea of a “SafetyEdu” program is not only ineffective but “offensive.”

“Sometimes common sense things like walking in groups is not enough,” he said. “A step beyond just educating students needs to be taken.”

The Terp Watch force he has recommended would be a group of students assembled to augment the auxiliary police force on the campus, allowing the auxiliary officers to begin patrolling areas just outside the campus, Shualy said.

“This isn’t some crazy, radical idea,” he said. “It’s a community service operation, a grass-roots safety campaign if you will.”

Kim Lugo, the neighborhood watch coordinator for the county district that includes College Park, said the problem with programs like Terp Watch is they are short-lived.

“They don’t last and that’s a problem,” she said. “It’s a good platform, but it might be too aggressive.”

Maj. Kevin Davis, the police commander of District 1, agreed the idea of a student watch force was a lofty goal, but one that should nonetheless be attempted.

“That’s certainly a more ambitious goal, but I wouldn’t expect anything less than an ambitious goal from a serious candidate,” Davis said. “It’s really going to be incumbent upon that candidate to exercise the power of his office.”

Lugo said neighborhood-watch programs that have been attempted before have fallen through because students in the SGA move on and cannot be responsible for handling the constant upkeep of such a program.

The SGA had attempted to establish a Terp Watch force in spring 2005, but the program failed due to lack of student and structural support, said Jahantab Siddiqui, a presidential candidate in 2006 and 2007 who helped pioneer the program. Shualy said he hopes to negotiate incentives to entice students to participate in Terp Watch with the possibility of course credits for criminology and criminal justice majors.

“The internship model is practical,” Shualy said. “But I would consider anything that would make this program a success.”

Sachs, however, criticized Shualy’s program for adding to an already dangerous situation.

“Establishing a police force is preposterous,” he said emphatically. “There is no perfect solution to safety, but we owe it to students to arm them with the best knowledge possible.”

Lugo also has reservations about students’ perceptions of a patrol force.

“Students need to understand that they’re not there to be a vigilante,” she said. “They’re there to report crimes to police, not to get involved.”

Sachs said he would instead offer a more moderate and practical solution to students – putting the number for NITE Ride on the backs of student ID cards and establishing an informative website where students could learn how to keep themselves safe on and around campus.

“The ‘SafetyEdu’ website will tell you how to avoid dangerous situations, and what to do in case something happens,” he said. “To call this program offensive is ridiculous.”

Davis said Sachs’ plan could be implemented more easily than Shualy’s, but would only be effective if students are required to participate or are given some type of incentive.

“I do like that idea, too,” he said. “I kind of favor ideas that get people off their feet and out in the street, so I like the other idea as well.”

Sachs, who said he has already been contacted by an AlcoholEdu administrator interested in helping to get the program up and running, said the program should be mandatory for incoming freshman, but optional and available to everyone else at the university. Rather than being a long tutorial, Sachs said it would put an emphasis on targeting unsafe areas and arming students with basic knowledge.

Sachs said he would seek funding through the university but could not yet provide any specifics.

Lugo said educating students about how to keep themselves out of risk situations is a must.

“Students think they’re in a glass bubble, that they’re so protected on campus,” she said. “That’s just not true.”

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