It's funny how "crime alerts" at the University used to be, well ... funny. It's not the most politically correct thing to say - or write, for that matter - but for me, there's just no better way to describe the page-long e-mails kindly instructing students to lock their doors at night or to simply "be careful" when walking across Grounds alone. Even those of us who did not come to U.Va. from the rough-and-tumble streets of [insert dangerous city here] know the common sense ways to keep ourselves safe. Or at least we should.
The supposed crime alerts, especially the one describing how students were robbed at 12:30 a.m. because two unknown assailants entered their Wertland residence "through an unlocked door," have done little to rouse students' concerns about safety - unless they had those concerns to begin with. At most, the e-mails made for a few interesting status updates on Facebook and Twitter. They created no wide-scale call to action.
Last year, I remember receiving a message about how "a black man with pigtails" was chasing after sorority girls in his wheelchair. Even now, the story serves to entertain me more than it does to alarm me. Pigtails? Wheelchair chases?
With threats like these, it's difficult to take the safety issue seriously and to use crime alerts as motivation for adopting better habits.
Ultimately, if you don't think about it too much, walking home alone from the library at night just because you don't feel like waiting for the bus seems justifiable. Forgetting to be a constant surveyor of the people around you as you get carried away in an interesting phone conversation or in singing a song blaring from your iPod seems, frankly, not to be the worst thing you could do.
Recent events prove otherwise, though. Given the apparent escalation in crime during the past two weeks, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Fortunately, as the number of e-mails from University Police Chief Michael Gibson increases, I feel as though the mood here is changing. Apathy and oversight have been cast aside in the face of what seems to be a growing anxiety and genuine fear of what type of people reside within this community of trust, or just outside it.
Gibson reported Sept. 30 that there were two incidents "involving female University of Virginia students being accosted" the previous night, one of which occurred on the 1200 block of Wertland Street at 7 p.m. (!!!), while the other took place on 15th Street at 9:50 p.m. The suspect, a "black male described as 20/23 years of age wearing a gray hoody and blue jeans ... approached [the second victim] from behind and put something to her back." He "walked her to several locations attempting to obtain money using the victim's ATM card" and at some point during their interaction, "fondled" her as well.
The next day, Gibson reported that another female student "was walking alone on Elliewood Ave around 1 a.m. when she was accosted by a black male who searched her pockets and asked for money and credit cards."
Makes you think. Certainly, accidents happen, but as intelligent people at a prestigious university, we must be smarter and more cautious. By no means do I consider myself the authority on Charlottesville security, but it seems more important than ever to take less personal risk and to look out for one another.
One worry I do have is that - as a result of greater safety awareness - people will begin to overgeneralize and stereotype who exactly the perpetrators and the victims of dangerous crimes are. The perpetrators are not just black males walking near the Corner at night. The victims are not just young girls from U.Va. who appear to be by themselves.
More than anything, though, my hope is that U.Va. students and Charlottesville residents will hold on to whatever concern we feel now and allow it to continue to inspire our choices - as corny as it sounds. The almost-daily e-mails about the robberies and assaults near Grounds may serve to create a healthy level of skepticism about the safety of our surroundings that was missing before. Although they may come off as a sort of play-by-play of police investigations, maybe that's what's necessary to keep safety in the forefront of people's minds. Only time will tell.
Stephanie's column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at s.waties@cavalierdaily.com.
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