SGA holds crime awareness forum

Robert Nesmith
Communications & Marketing

Civil engineering major Patrick Whaley kicked off a crime prevention awareness meeting, held in the Student Center ballroom the evening of Thursday, Aug. 27.

Officers from the Atlanta and Georgia Tech Police Departments addressed a standing room–only crowd at the hour-long event organized by the Student Government Association.

Recounting his own experience as a shooting victim in an armed robbery, Whaley wanted to deliver a message to students: “You are not invincible, and we must band together to be a strong community.”

Georgia Tech Police Chief Teresa Crocker and Crime Prevention Officer Ian Mayberry addressed the crowd before answering questions from the audience. Crocker and Mayberry, stating that the major crime on campus is theft, wanted students to know that the department is not oblivious to the more serious crimes around the campus. “Learn from what Patrick said—there are people out there who want to make you their target,” Crocker said. “A lot of the thefts [at Tech] are from people coming onto the campus.”

Armed robberies on campus are down 43 percent from last year, and are down 20 percent in Zone 5, according to Mayberry. But, he acknowledged that perception equals reality for students. “Crime remains a part of our society,” he said. “If you choose to be out at 3 a.m. and don’t take advantage of our services, then you become a victim waiting for a perpetrator.”

Mayberry went on to suggest students with bicycles should invest in U-locks and that people should not leave laptops unattended in the library, in classrooms or in coffee shops. “We [GTPD] do our best to be everywhere in the area, but it’s impossible. A strong community is the best crime deterrent there is,” Mayberry said, echoing Whaley’s sentiment. He also told students they could sign up for GTPD Crime Alerts and the Georgia Tech Emergency Notification System (GTENS) on the GTPD Web site.

“Georgia Tech is the greatest place on earth,” Whaley said. “We need to stand tall and stand united.”

For more information, visit the Georgia Tech Police Department Web site.