Penn Police station on Apr 19, 2023.
Credit: Abhiram Juvvadi
Despite recent coverage of heightened security measures in response to rising crime on campus, Penn community members told The Daily Pennsylvanian that they remain confident about the University’s safety.
Reports from national outlets came after the Division of Public Safety sent a Sept. 25 message to the Penn community noting “multiple recent reports” of “groups of young people slapping or striking individuals in the head.” The notice stated that activity was located primarily in the area of 40th to 38th streets, from Market Street to Locust Street.
The DPS message stated that individual members “strike the unknown victim with open hand or closed fist” — connecting the incidents to a “nationwide social media trend.”
“The Division of Public Safety is actively addressing this in multiple ways including adding additional police and security presence in the area and working with our City partners to stop the issue,” the DPS message read. “We will continue, as long as necessary, to take steps to stop these events from happening so members of our community feel safe and unthreatened.”
A request for comment was left with a DPS spokesperson.
In interviews with the DP, Penn community members expressed some concerns about crime on campus but remained largely confident in the University’s safety efforts.
A Penn security guard — who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation — said they feel that Penn’s campus is safe but that “people just tend to do crazy things at night.”
“I feel like the University of Pennsylvania probably could do a little bit better with the security on the campus, as far as outside [and] patrolling the streets,” they said.
Still, the guard stated their belief that Penn is “doing their best to get in control of everything.”
College first year Serena Lin said that she has recently noticed an increase in police presence around campus, especially at night. However, Lin attributed the heightened security to “frat parties” and “protests on campus,” stating that she has not “directly” witnessed an increase in crime.
College sophomore Alexander Lee told the DP that he “appreciate[s]” the DPS public safety alert, and credited the division with doing a “good job.”
“If they send [the alerts] out, I tend to avoid those areas,” Lee said.
He stated that he has not noticed increased police presence or crime on campus, aside from seeing police officers on College Green late at night. Lee expressed his hope that DPS will “cover more area” — adding that the department can “always strive to do more, especially when it comes to public safety.”
College sophomore Phoebe Martin echoed a similar sentiment, emphasizing that she did not feel like police presence had especially increased this school year.
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“I’ll see guards outside Acme, but I always saw that last year too,” Martin said. “It’s always nice to have people around sometimes, especially as a young woman.”
College sophomore Reina Gammarino cited the availability of Penn Police escorts at night as a resource that makes her “feel a lot safer.”
“Overall, I feel pretty safe, especially on Locust,” Gammarino said. “I think it’s good they’re increasing police presence, just because Penn tends to have that reputation of being unsafe among the top schools in the U.S.”
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