Story 3 (Wayne State’s Campus Robberies Increase)
By Ursula Krause (@ursulamkrausew1)
Nov. 21, 2018
Last Edited Dec. 13, 2018
Related: https://medium.com/@ursulamk01/story-2-wayne-state-student-forced-to-help-with-robbery-5044df782b04
A female Biological Science major at Wayne State University recalls walking out of her apartment early on the morning of Sept. 25, to make it to her class on campus only one mile away. She stopped dead in her tracks as the glistening of shattered glass reflecting off the ground on the passenger side of her 2013 Kia Sorento caught her eye. Her heart dropped as she realized that she was the victim of yet another break-in.
Third year WSU student, Ashley Fulton, says that robbery is not uncommon where she lives on the corner of John R Road and Baltimore Street in Detroit. This is not the first time that she has had her car broken into, the Grand Blanc resident says.
She has been robbed twice and her car was hit three times while living at this location for two years. “They always happened at night time, between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.” she says.
Ashley Fulton says that the intruders “didn’t take anything but a pack of gum and some papers. I even had an umbrella and a North Face jacket sitting in the back seat and they didn’t even touch it, they just went through my glove box.”
Fulton is not the only student at WSU that says they feel uneasy about the increase in campus robberies. The Wayne State Police Department listed in their Annual Security and Fire Reports that the crime of robbery on WSU’s campus has increased throughout the year.
https://police.wayne.edu/annual-security-report
Although Fulton got lucky with what wasn’t taken, she says that the damage done to her car resulted in repair fees and a lost sense of security. She says that she has noticed the campus becoming “a little bit sketchier” than it has been in the past two years, which makes her nervous.
“I’ve started carrying mace more and making sure that I am always aware of my surroundings,” she says. She says she also makes it a point to keep better track of the people around her, writing the descriptions of people she is uneasy about in her phone in case she finds herself in trouble and needs to file a report.
Wayne State sophomore, Alexandra Mackenzie, says she was leaving a friend’s house on Virginia Park Street at 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 16, when someone drove a truck down the street. As the truck passed Mackenzie, she says she saw its taillights flash and the vehicle slowly back up to where she standing. She says that as the driver began rolling their window down, she sprinted back to her friend’s house and pounded on the door until her friend opened it to let her back inside. The Grand Blanc resident lives in the Towers Residential Suites on WSU’s campus. “This scared me,” she admits, “but I think I needed it. You hear these stories about other people and think ‘Oh it can’t happen to me.’ That’s just not the truth. It can happen,” Mackenzie says.
Stefan Jemkort, a WSU junior from Warren, feels that his apartment located at Second Street and Forest Road is generally a safe place to live, and he tells a story of how his roommate, Matt Cherry, had his car broken into on the night of Sept. 29. He says he had parked it in the ally behind the apartments where most of the apartment building’s residents park their cars. Cherry’s car was broken into, where hundred of dollars in cash, gift cards, and other property from inside the car was stolen.
Jemkort says that he believes that the increase of robberies on campus is the result of ignorance performed by students. He says that the emails sent to students via the WSUPD describe the victims as putting themselves in positions to be robbed. He says that he thinks that students who walk alone at night or hold valuable items loosely increase the risk of coming face to face with an intruder. “While everyone should feel safe on campus, there are certain things you just should not do, no matter where you are, for your own safety,” he says.
While Jemkort believes that the police are doing a lot to protect the students on campus, he thinks that they can increase their presence even more, especially at night. “Walking around at 2 a.m. is asking for trouble,” he adds. “I feel like that is just a general thing that people are taught growing up. But to me, it seems like people have simply forgotten how to keep themselves safe,” he says. The WSUPD says that they have a Safe Walk System that many students are not aware of, where a student on campus can call an officer to make sure they arrive to their destination safely. According to the Wayne State Police Department website, the number for this system is 313–577–2222. WSU also holds Rape Aggression Defense classes (RAD), which educate students about how to stay safe. The department explains that these classes teach students how to use the 10 personal weapons that can be used to repel or delay an attacker.
Ashley Fulton, who has grown more aware of her personal safety after being the victim of robbery more than once, says that the escort system is a great tool that more students should take advantage of. “Wayne State has gotten worse in the past two years as far as robberies go,” she says. “I feel that more students should utilize the free services where officers walk you to your destination!” Fulton says that she also believes that the Wayne State Police should advertise their services more so that all students know of this safety option, especially at night when it is dark.
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