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Monday, May 14, 2012

JOUR 3010 Article 1


Sudden Snatches Overwhelm Campus
by Morgan Scroggs

According to the Georgia State University campus crime alert, the most frequently reported crime of the last six months has been “robbery by sudden snatching.”

The crimes, usually involving electronic devices and cell phones, have become especially bold leading up to the holiday season and the new year. In 2010, the GSU police statistical report cataloged 22 robberies and 330 larcenies or thefts. Those numbers are marginally reduced from the 2009 statistical report, but the 2011 report has yet to be published.

In December, GSU students held a crime prevention meeting to discuss the problems facing the campus of nearly 33,000 students and faculty.

CBS Atlanta reported that a number of students were affected; one student, Keticia Wilson, said that she still gets shivers. According to CBS Atlanta, witness Betty Mekonnen said that “the offenders are really smart, they're bold and doing it in broad daylight.”

Head of crime prevention, Sgt. Kristal Perkins feels that students need to be more aware while on campus.

“I don't think that our students are utilizing the resources that our police department is offering them,” she says. The department offers self defense classes, safety escorts, and call boxes. “I don't think the escort service is going to minimize the robberies by sudden snatching,” says Perkins, “I think it's the entire community being aware of their surroundings and taking responsibility for themselves.”

Although several of the locations of the snatchings reported by the GSU campus crime alert include familiar streets, GSU buildings are beginning to creep into the radar as targets by the offenders.

The General Classroom Building, a well known drop-off and pick-up for students traveling by the Panther Bus, has been the location for robbery by sudden snatching twice in the past four months.

In one incident, the cell phone was snatched from a student standing on the steps; in the other incident, the snatching occurred on the third floor of the building – a location not as easy for criminals to target – making the crime a little more sudden, and a lot more personal.

Perkins believes that there are no designated high-crime areas, but she says the department tries to stay in areas where there are a lot of people, or in places where an increase of theft has been reported. “We just want to make sure we target our entire campus for visibility and make sure our entire campus is safe.”

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