<p>Crime happens everywhere; it's not a Penn/Philly specific problem...If you have such a problem with the school/area, don't go there (or transfer to a different university, as may be the case)...it's as simple as that.</p>
<p>this is BS, penn has to do something serious</p>
<p>Honestly, what the hell@the security guard thing. Unacceptable BS. BTW I actually know the person who circulated that email -- simple mistake/confusion. Again, these are separate incidents.</p>
<p>And the rape incident is just awful.</p>
<p>Philadelphia has been an increasingly violent city. It happens to have a couple of fine colleges, some in some very rough areas. I live an hour away and a lot of parents in our area are more comfortable sending their kids to to colleges in other major cities instead of Phila.
I saw on the Phila news the other day that It has the highest murder rate per capita in the nation.</p>
<p>^ Philly does not have the highest murder rate in the nation. It has the 9th highest murder rate among cities with more than 250,000 people (e.g., Baltimore, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. all have significantly higher murder rates):</p>
<p>United</a> States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>What you probably heard is that Philly has the highest murder rate among the 10 largest cities in the U.S.</p>
<p>In any event, it's unacceptable, and has to be dealt with. Fortunately, all signs indicate that newly-elected Mayor Michael Nutter will do just that, taking an aggressive, intellectually-informed approach to the problem in contrast to the "Can't Do" attitude of the current mayor and police commissioner.</p>
<p>From today's DP:</p>
<p>
[quote]
**Police release details of sexual assault</p>
<p>Student woke up threatened by man wielding sharp object; apartment shows no signs of forced entry**</p>
<p>By: Julie Cohn</p>
<p>Posted: 11/14/07</p>
<p>Philadelphia Police released a detailed account yesterday of the sexual assault of a female student on the 4000 block of Spruce Street.</p>
<p>Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit Capt. John Darby said that, after going to sleep shortly after 3:30 a.m. Monday, the victim, 20, was awoken by a male lying on top of her holding a sharp object to her neck.</p>
<p>The man threatened the student and sexually assaulted her, then remained in the room for what may have been up to an hour before leaving.</p>
<p>The victim told police the suspect sounded like a white male in his 40s and appeared to be between 5-feet, 8-inches and 6-feet.</p>
<p>At about 6:00 a.m., the male was alerted by what the victim believed to be an alarm clock going off in another room, and he left the victim's bedroom.</p>
<p>There was no sign of forced entry, and it is not clear whether the doors to the residence were locked. Police say the male may have entered through a rear entrance, and the victim believed he exited through a front door. </p>
<p>Darby would not say whether the victim was hospitalized but confirmed that she did not sustain physical injuries.</p>
<p>The victim lived in a multi-story building with up to 10 to 12 occupants, who did not hear or see the incident.</p>
<p>The student did not notify Penn Police until later Monday afternoon, at which point the investigation was turned over to Philadelphia Police SVU.</p>
<p>A crime team has already conducted an on-scene investigation to recover items with potential for biological or other forensic evidence. </p>
<p>Police have retrieved surveillance video from surrounding areas that will be used in the investigation. They have interviewed nearby residents and are working in conjunction with the Division of Public Safety to help identify and apprehend the perpetrator.</p>
<p>The investigation is still ongoing and police have no suspects at the moment.</p>
<p>Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said the victim and her roommates stayed in alternate housing provided by the University Monday night. DPS is currently checking the apartment to ensure all locks and other safety mechanisms are working properly before the students return.</p>
<p>"We're worried about their psyche," Rush said. "Not just the individual woman, but everyone in that home."</p>
<p>A number of serious incidents have occurred recently on or near campus, including this assault as well as the October shooting near 38th and Chestnut streets. Rush stressed, however, that safety is a "shared responsibility" for all students, faculty and staff.</p>
<p>"Can Public Safety do it all? Absolutely not," she said. "No department can do it all, [but] the community and Public Safety working together can create the safest community."</p>
<p>Rush added that additional Penn and Philadelphia police patrols have been added to boost security in the area.</p>
<p>"There's not an area of our patrol zone that we leave to happenstance," she said. "It's all covered."</p>
<p>The incident has clearly troubled many students who live in the area, though those interviewed said they do not believe DPS should be blamed. </p>
<p>"I don't feel as safe as I used to, but I don't really know what can be done," said College senior Elyse Monti, who lives on the 4000 block of Pine Street.</p>
<p>"It's very frightening that this involved a Penn student so close to where we live," she added. "To think that that happened, for me it just really hits close to home."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Three items caught my attention in the above article:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The victim told police the suspect sounded like a white male in his 40s and appeared to be between 5-feet, 8-inches and 6-feet.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
There was no sign of forced entry, and it is not clear whether the doors to the residence were locked. Police say the male may have entered through a rear entrance, and the victim believed he exited through a front door.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
At about 6:00 a.m., the male was alerted by what the victim believed to be an alarm clock going off in another room, and he left the victim's bedroom. . . . The student did not notify Penn Police until later Monday afternoon
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Speaking as a former prosecutor (in Philadelphia and other large cities), I think it would be wise to withhold judgment on how this case relates to the general crime problems in Philadelphia, until all the facts have been determined. However, that the perpetrator is described as white, that there was no evidence of forced entry, that the perpetrator may have entered through a rear door but--according to the victim--exited through the front door where he could easily be seen, that the victim waited to report the incident to Penn Police until "later Monday afternoon" when the incident ended at 6 AM, all raise questions in my mind about the incident and its relationship to indigenous West Philadelphia crime.</p>
<p>I'm not drawing any conclusions here. I'm just saying that we should wait to learn all the facts before we pounce on this incident as an example of the West Philly crime problem encroaching on Penn's campus. As I indicated previously, sex crimes are not limited to large, urban areas and, unfortunately, happen everywhere.</p>
<p>I am familiar with the houses on this block. The residents have been warned that criminals go up and down the backs of the houses trying the back doors. It is easy for a resident to come in the back, let the door swing shut and not check to see if it is securely locked. The doors to the bedrooms in the houses also lock, so if this newspaper report is correct (a big "if"), neither the back door OR the door to the victim's room were locked. Again- something many residents overlook- but shouldn't. I just visited one of these houses last weekend and the doorknob on the outside had fallen completely off, making it hard to secure the back door if you had just exited since you couldn't really pull it shut. These houses are just above slum-level, even for student housing, in my opinion.</p>
<p>
[quote]
if this newspaper report is correct (a big "if")
[/quote]
Agreed. Yet another reason to withhold judgement on what this incident may signify in terms of Penn's overall safety (although locking doors to residential buildings should always be a priority).</p>
<p>" There were 406 homicides in Philadelphia in 2006, the highest per capita homicide rate among America's major cities "</p>
<p>Actually , I heard this statistic in an interview with Michael Nutter the Sunday before he was elected ( a channel 10 Sun am talk show, don't recall the name .</p>
<p>^ That's what I said--highest rate among the 10 largest cities, but NOT the highest rate among ALL cities (see the list I linked to in post #25). I'm not trying to split hairs, and certainly am not trying to minimize the seriousness of the problem we have, but we need to be careful not to hyperbolize about the problem, also. The murder rate is a terrible problem that needs to be addressed, but it's one that other cities (Baltimore, Washington, D.C., etc.)--and not just Philadelphia--also have.</p>
<p>Who is momofwildchild and why does she hold such a grudge against Penn? Same for MIT reject people. What's their beef?</p>
<p>I don't have a grudge against Penn at all. I was just there and my son is quite happy there this year. I just don't pretend all is perfect- it's not, nor is it at ANY college. It's just better to go into the Penn experience knowing the good AND the bad. If you want to pretend the off-campus housing is lovely and inexpensive, go for it! The fact that the Radian sold out of 1 and 2 bedroom apartments 5 hours after the leasing office opened (with the building not to be completed until August 2008) tells you something about the housing options around Penn. AND-Radian apartments are over $1300 a month for a 1 bedroom. But it's safe and new, which makes it unique.</p>
<p>It's no secret that Penn's near-term (i.e., within a few years) goal is to pull students out of the neighborhoods west of campus and get them into dorms--new private dorms near campus and new and existing dorms on campus--so that (1) there will be a more cohesive student residential community in the immediate campus area, and (2) the rental houses currently occupied by students can be upgraded into market-rate, owner-occupied, single-family homes for Penn faculty, staff, and other middle-class professional types, thereby stabilizing and improving the neighborhood (and creating a relatively crime-free buffer west of campus). The Penn Alexander school and the proposed Penn-sponsored international high school are part of this ongoing process. University City property values have risen significantly in recent years to become among the highest in the city (outside of the most premium neighborhoods such as Center City and Chestnut Hill), and this is a direct result of--among other things--Penn's efforts to improve the neighborhood since the beginning of Judith Rodin's administration.</p>
<p>Things may sometimes look bleak to current students or their parents but, believe me, the long-term trend here is very positive, and Penn has become a real national leader and model in how to do this:</p>
<p>I was this close to choosing Radian for next year, but it'd be so expensive.</p>
<p>My daughter also lives in an off-campus dump. It has mice, roaches, bad heat, and a front door that never quite closes. But she LOVES this apartment. She says she never feels unsafe walking alone in the middle of the night. I also suggested the Radian to her, maybe more for my own piece of mind. She didn't want to look at it because of the price. Well, it turns out she got one of the last 2 bedroom apartments.</p>
<p>She doesn't have a problem at all walking around west philly. She says there are campus security guards on every corner. I told her if she's ever scared to ask them to walk her home. I think after this last incident that will never happen.</p>
<p>45 Precenter was spot on</p>
<p>From The People At The Top:</p>
<p>STATEMENT FROM PENN PRESIDENT AMY GUTMANN, PROVOST RON DANIELS AND EXECUTIVE
VICE PRESIDENT CRAIG CARNAROLI</p>
<p>November 15, 2007</p>
<p>As you may be aware, Philadelphia, like many other large cities, has
experienced an increase in crime. While Penn has successfully countered the
impact of these pressures in our campus community, we have recently experienced
two serious incidents of crime, including a reported sexual assault in an off-
campus apartment building. These incidents underline the importance of the
University remaining ever vigilant in all our efforts to ensure the safety of
our students, faculty and staff, which is a fundamental priority.</p>
<p>Two years ago, we announced a comprehensive initiative to enhance the safety of
our campus and surrounding community. At that time, we committed $5 million to
implement a series of measures to strengthen safety and security. These
included the addition of both uniformed and plain-clothes police officers and
security guards to street patrol during the evening and early morning hours,
both on campus and in the surrounding community, and a significant expansion of
lighting and other security-related technology. These measures remain in place
today and they have proven effective.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the recent incidents near Penn are unacceptable, and we are
supplementing our current measures with additional safety initiatives,
especially in the area west of our campus where many of our students live.
Where appropriate, we are working with local area landlords in these efforts.</p>
<p>The additional measures include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Additional police overtime hours to supplement the already high level of
police and security patrols;</p></li>
<li><p>The installation of new CCTV cameras between 40th and 43rd Streets;</p></li>
<li><p>A new lighting program to increase pedestrian lighting on and off campus;</p></li>
<li><p>Three new transit stops - two on the western boundaries of campus and one on
the eastern side;</p></li>
<li><p>A new late night pilot shuttle service for those who live in Center City
developed with input from our graduate and professional student association.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>We also are working closely with our city leaders, including incoming Mayor
Michael Nutter, who made improved public safety a cornerstone of his campaign.</p>
<p>We encourage our students, faculty and staff to continue to use the numerous
safety resources available to them. Details can be found at
Penn:</a> Division of Public Safety</p>
<p>"Penn has successfully countered the impact of these pressures in our campus community"</p>
<p>and they only committed $5 million? no wonder crime is increasing, 5 million is relatively nothing.</p>
<p>These crime stories are terrible PR for Penn and Gutmann knows this - 1 idiotic act with a gun or knife can outweigh years of work by 100 brilliant faculty researchers in the public mind. The problem is, no one really knows how to prevent these acts - a thousand cameras would not necessarily stop them. Throwing money at the problem is only a solution up to a point (the point where the security guards are themselves part of the crime problem, perhaps?).</p>