Police working hard to alleviate crime
As I am sure you have been made aware, both from media coverage in The Diamondback and the distribution of the campus Crime Alerts, there has been a recent increase in criminal activity, particularly robberies, in both the city of College Park and on the campus. I thought it prudent to keep the community apprised of efforts by the University of Maryland Department of Public Safety (UMDPS) and the local law enforcement community to apprehend those individuals involved in this crime and to proactively mitigate the continuance of this trend. I believe it is important for the campus community to be cognizant of our efforts – both to emphasize the institutional commitment that safety and security on our campus is of the highest priority and to ensure that our enforcement actions are expected and receive support from our campus constituents.
An increased law enforcement presence, including both UMDPS and the Prince George’s County Police Department, has been apparent in the city in recent weeks as a direct response to recent criminal incidents. The UMDPS Strategic Enforcement Response Team (SERT) along with the Prince George’s County Special Assignment Team (SAT) and Robbery Suppression Team (RST) have been conducting joint operations in the city in an effort to collaboratively impact criminal activity in the area. This effort has resulted in recent arrests for two firearms charges and the recovery of two handguns used in incidents in the city. These joint operations in the city will continue and are expected to effectively reduce crime in the area through aggressive enforcement of all criminal activity and increased law enforcement contacts. As this strategy continues to evolve, an increase in enforcement activity in the area will be apparent in the form of increased numbers of traffic stops, suspicious person stops, officer/citizen contacts and status offense enforcement. Additionally, law enforcement presence on the campus will be increased through support by the Maryland State Police.
The solution to this issue is dependent upon a collaborative effort, between both law enforcement agencies and the community. The UMDPS is meeting on an almost daily basis with the county police command staff, and future joint ventures include other allied agencies such as the Prince George’s County Park Police and the Metro Police. I ask you to provide assistance in the form of increased vigilance, utilization of applicable personal safety resources such as escorts and Call-A-Ride and make safety-conscious decisions when recreating, particularly in the early morning hours.
Kenneth Krouse
Chief of Police
UMDPS
Noted leaders are not credible
That Mr. Hadadi would give any credence to the words of autocrat Hugo Chávez, Holocaust-denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the president of Sudan, whose country is perpetrating a genocide against its non-Arab population in Darfur, is absolutely ridiculous. I understand that many Americans wonder, “Why do they hate us?” Too many, though, like Mr. Hadadi, don’t care to think of who exactly “they” are.
On the one hand, we have Marxists who talk about helping the poor, but, as in the case of Venezuela, do very little to actually alleviate poverty. Then we have Islamist organizations, like Hezbollah, Hamas and al-Qaeda, who refuse to tolerate any religion but their own and make calls for the extermination of the Jews (not just Israelis). Of course the behavior of the Bush administration has not been perfect and, at least in his first term, Bush alienated a lot of our allies such as France and Germany, whose opinions should matter to us. However, the foreign policy of the United States should not be based on what others think of us, for to do what is right is not always the same as to do what is popular.
If leaders and nations that don’t believe in freedom of speech, freedom of religion or women’s rights do not like the United States – great! I’d rather we be hated by despots than loved by them.
Benjamin J. Rodkin
Senior
Government and politics
