In my few years as a student at the University of Minnesota, I have received countless Safe-U alerts, ranging from carjackings to shootings to assaults to gas leaks and bomb threats.
This system has always seemed a bit odd to me. After all, what could I, a singular student, do about an armed robbery that occurred hours ago? Why do I even need to know about such things in the first place?
I will admit that the idea of Safe-U alerts does make sense – to an extent. Safe-U alerts can be helpful to inform students and staff about certain types of threats, particularly ones regarding dangerous areas on campus, said third-year philosophy student Syd Huntimer.
“There is one alert that directly aids students,” Huntimer said. “Think reporting on gas leaks, fires or bomb threats.”
These kinds of alerts are geared to tell students to avoid a particular area during an active event, which is understandable. One such alert went out last summer about a gas leak on University Avenue. The leak led to a multi-block shutdown while authorities cleared the area. It is important for students and staff to know about these kinds of events because they involve currently active events that interfere with public safety.
Other Safe-U alerts, though, do not accomplish any such safety aims. In fact, I would argue that the Safe-U alerts reporting criminal activity are actually counterproductive. To be living on campus while constantly receiving reports of shootings, robberies and assaults does nothing but make me feel unsafe. It’s fear-mongering at its finest.
“I think hyper-visibility is a keyword here,” Huntimer said. “Most activity reported feels like incidents that affirm projects of ‘clearing’ or making those areas ‘safe.’ Reporting with strong eyes on crimes that happen once a night creates fear about areas around the University.”
In an area as highly policed as the University there are bound to be endless instances of crimes reported. Why, though, do we need to know about them?
The only explanation I can think of for this is to create a sense of need for increased police presence on campus. It is as if these kinds of Safe-U alerts exist only to say, “Look! There is so much crime going on on campus! Don’t you feel afraid? But fear not, dear students! The UMPD is here to save the day! Please, give us more money, guns and military-grade equipment so we can make campus the safest it can be!”
After all, Safe-U alerts are here to keep the U, and you, safe. Right?
Current efforts to cut down on crime include the new Dinkytown Alerts, which launched earlier this month. Unlike the Safe-U alerts, the Dinkytown Alerts are an opt-in system that focuses only on criminal activity in the Dinkytown area.
This is a step in the right direction in only one regard: an opt-in program. If students do wish to be hyper-aware of the crime in their neighborhood, it should be a choice – not a requirement.
One might ask, “What would we do if there were no Safe-U alerts? Just let students roam around campus without knowing about the crimes being committed in their community?”
Yes, I would argue.
This kind of argument reminds me of a 2020 quote from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). A big proponent of defunding the police, AOC was asked what a world without heavy policing would look like, to which she famously replied, “It looks like a suburb.”
Indeed, the stereotypical suburbs are widely considered safe, crime-free and full of middle-class white people.
Part of the reason the University seems like a dangerous, crime-ridden place is because of the frequency of Safe-U alerts. This hyper-visibility of crime on campus only increases fear of crime and encourages pro-cop sentiment.
If we want campus to feel safe, we need to start by cutting down on Safe-U alerts.