Harrington/Love Murders AT UVA: Sorority Rape Misses Radar To Alert Students
Charlottesville, VA- Sallie Hamilton, the original owner of the Hamilton House on Chancellor Ave., was ahead of her time when she chose Charlottesville to build her boarding house.
Recently divorced and the mother of two young sons, she was one of five single women from 1900 to 1910 to build and operate boarding houses to accommodate students of the University of Virginia as a means of income and support for her family.
The Chancellor Street address abutted the newly established and exclusive Fraternity Row on Madison Lane and was directly across from the central grounds. The Delta Zeta Sorority purchased it in 1979.
In the early morning hours of September 17th, 2010, it was also the scene of the latest rape of a UVA student and DZ sorority sister.
September 17th, 2010 also happens to have been the first full day of a 10 day memorial to Yeardley Love, the lacrosse player who was brutally murdered in May.
The columns of the Rotunda were draped in black just hours before the vicious rape and assault in the backyard of the sorority house, an assault that the young woman has very little memory of.
Coincidentally, Yeardley Love was a sister at Kappa Alpha Theta, whose sorority, Saunders House, resides at 127 Chancellor Street.
A “stones throw away” you might say.
Eleven days earlier, a meeting between the parents of Virginia Tech Junior Morgan Harrington and UVA President Teresa Sullivan regarding safety on campus, was productive.
Morgan disappeared from the grounds of John Paul Jones Arena last October and was later found murdered in January after months of searching for her. According to her mother Gil, Morgan was also raped and beaten.
Blinkoncrime.com was alerted to the attack at DZ House by concerned parents of UVA students when they did not receive an email alert from either UVA PD or Charlottesville PD as they have in the past, after they were informed of the incident directly.
For several hours following the attack, police actually detained associates of the sororities within the property at the time of the incident,as well as those arriving home while Charlottesville Police were conducting interviews.
After a previous sexual assault on July 19th, 2010, students, faculty, and parents received this email within 24 hours of the attack:
To members of the University community:
The Charlottesville Police Department responded to a report of a sexual assault that occurred on Roosevelt Brown Blvd at 11:30 p.m. on Monday July 19, 2010.
The victim, a University of Virginia student, reported being approached from behind and was pushed into some bushes along the sidewalk as she was walking on Roosevelt Brown Blvd. After a brief struggle, the assailant fled on foot in the direction of West Main Street.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his early thirties. He is approximately five foot seven inches tall and weighs approximately 150 to 160 pounds.
Anyone having information related to this incident should call the Charlottesville Police at 434-970-3280 or Crime Stoppers at 434-977-4000.
Please use all of the resources that are provided to you as a member of the University community. If you are interested in learning more about what resources are available, including safety seminars and self-defense classes, visit our Resources web site.
A few key things to remember:
- Trust your instincts about a person or situation. If you feel uncomfortable, immediately report your concerns to police by calling 911.
- If you find yourself in a similar situation, turn over material belongings to the suspect and focus on his or her physical characteristics, i.e. clothing description, height and weight and last known direction of travel.
- Be aware of your surroundings. Do not let a cell phone conversation or listening to music distract you when walking or in a situation that calls for your full attention.
- Avoid isolated areas when walking alone at night. Use SafeRide (434-242-1122), walk with friends, or take the late-night weekend bus.
- Report suspicious activity or people immediately by calling 911.
The University of Virginia Police Department would like to remind you of several resources that are available if you believe you, or a friend, has been a victim of sexual assault. Sources of support available include the Office of the Dean of Students, the Women’s Center, Counseling and Psychological Services in Student Health, Charlottesville’s Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA), and the Victim and Witness Assistance Programs for the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Students wishing to pursue disciplinary action through the University can do so through the University’s Sexual Assault Board. For more information about the Sexual Assault Board, contact the Office of Dean of Students or by phone at 434-924-7133. Students are eligible to receive support through any of these channels regardless of whether they elect to pursue criminal, civil, or administrative remedies through the University.
Michael Gibson Chief of Police
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sandridge approved distribution of this message.
Apparently, the concern for safety is shared after 2 shooting incidents occurred in the vicinity this past weekend, as addressed by Lt. Melisa Fielding, UVA PD:
“Safety is really a shared responsibility,” said Lt. Melisa Fielding of the UVA Police Department. ”You can’t put enough police out there to prevent all incidents.”
UVA police say that means getting the entire corner community on deck with keeping the nightlife area safe.
“Over the last year there have been enough incidents in this area to make one question how safe the community is,” Fielding stated.
On September 24, UVA held a Day of Dialogue: Toward a Caring Community.
The University’s new president, Teresa Sullivan, says this is a day of healing and of frank discussions about ways to prevent violence.
Frankly, I would like to discuss how after 3 known attacks, one resulting in a sexual assault after two attempts in the same evening in July, a rape and beating occurring at a UVA sorority is not worthy of an alert to students, faculty or parents?
One would think the start of preventing of such violence would be acknowledgment it exists, even when it happens “on grounds”.
Blinkoncrime.com was able to reach Carol Wood this evening, Office of Public Affairs UVA, while traveling for business:
..” I am out of town on business and have not heard of such incident but will look into it..”
Madeline Tanner, copy editor and contributing editor to this report.
Elizabeth Morton, contributing editor to this report.
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Saramom says:
September 30, 2010 at 7:00 pm
http://womenscenter.virginia.edu/sdvs-Morgan-Harrington.php
Above is a very good read.
***************************
Thank you Blink and Company and faithful readers and posters for being who you are.
Sara
I am still struck by her beauty and the kindness in her eyes.
Props to Kirby
B
———————————————————————
BLINK – I could not agree with you more!!!
UGH, I cannot find a link to it but last night on NBC 12, there was mention of an attack inside of a store where a male pointed something into the back of a female saying it was a gun and forced her to use her debit/ATM card and it was either a UVA student or it was in the UVA town. I cannot find it anywhere now, but he has been apprehended and apparently did this twice. I’m still looking for it though, stay tuned kids
AHA – I found it!! Took this snip-it from nbc29.com
“Police Arrest, Charge Man in UVA Robbery
Charlottesville police have arrested 28-year-old Carlton William Arnold in connection with a University of Virginia student that was robbed and another that was accosted near grounds Wednesday night.
According to Lieutenant Gary Pleasants of the Charlottesville Police Department, Arnold was recently released from prison for the murder of Osama Hassan at a Shell gas station on Ivy Road in 1998.
Arnold was arrested shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday at an apartment in Charlottesville’s Friendship Court Complex. Police have charged Arnold with abduction by force, robbery with a firearm, aggravated sexual battery, two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Police say the arrest was made after a video of him, which aired on NBC29, was shown, which led to a number of calls identfying Arnold. Arnold is set to be arraigned on Friday.
On Wednesday, a female UVA student reported that she was walking on the 2100 block of 15th Street NW around 10 p.m. when a man came up to her and put what she believed to be a gun on her back. The suspect demanded cash and used her ATM card to get money at different locations, getting away with a small amount of cash.
Police also believe Arnold confronted another student on the 1200 block of Wertland Street around 7 p.m. A female UVA student reported that a man with the same description put his hand on her shoulder and told her not to move. She was able to get away without incident.
Pleasants said, “There was nothing either of these two ladies could have done to prevent anything last night. The person came up behind them, grabbed them and had no idea that they were there, but there have been other cases where people have just not been aware of their surroundings.”
Police say this isn’t the first time they’ve dealt with robbery at gun-point around the corner. Pleasants stated, “It’s not too common fortunately, but it’s not an unusual thing either. It has happened over the years. It is something we’ve had to deal with.”
At this time, the university has not offered a statement on the incidents. This robbery and threat is coming less than a week after an entire day dedicated to preventing violence at UVA”
Interesting . . . .
“The preliminary trial date for George Huguely, the former fourth-year student and UVA lacrosse player charged with the homicide of fellow student Yeardly Love, has been moved from October 7 to January 21 at 1pm. Cameras have been banned from the trial by Charlottesville General District Court Judge Robert Downer, Jr., so as not to influence jurors. This is the third time Huguely’s trial date has been moved; the date was originally set for June 10.”
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=1991704080566501&act=post&pid=12032909104136352
It’s here, it made the fp new piece, congrats:
http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/09/29/blinkoncrime-com-editorial-uva-violated-the-jeanne-clery-act-and-failed-to-report-another-sex-crime/
Also, I didn’t see my last comment.
A friend brought this site to my attention. While it may be unusual for someone in my position to engage folks via a blog, I am always in favor of more information being available rather than less. I also think that many of the questions you have asked are fair ones.
Prior to the press conference on Wednesday, I was told that the media’s primary question was the timing of the e-mail safety alert I had sent to students the previous evening. I thus focused my comments on giving as much detail as I had on the day-by-day development of facts, in particular how I ultimately came to believe that an alert could be sent with some confidence in the accuracy of what we were saying to students. In hindsight, I can see how some might reasonably interpret that approach as defensive or unduly “administrative” in nature. Again, my objective was simply to provide detail on the primary subject I had been asked to address for the media. It would have been preferable to lead with an expression of the frustration, anger and concern I have regarding what had occurred and what we were doing to support the victims.
I understand the frustration that some feel with our use of “on Grounds” and “off Grounds” at U.Va., believing that our use of those terms is meant to avoid responsibility for events occurring off of the campus. However, the only reason we use such language — and similar phrases such as “Rugby”, “the Corner,” “Wertland,” etc. — is that our students understand that language and it helps them quickly know the specific areas we are discussing. At no time have I ever considered a matter less serious or severe because it occurred off Grounds. Indeed, more of my students live off Grounds than on Grounds, so it is irrelevant from my perspective whether a crime of violence occurs on or off Grounds. Each year, I ride around with University Police in the joint patrol area we have with Charlottesville Police specifically to get a feel for what is happening in the off Grounds living areas for our students. The objective is to make any area in which our students live as safe as possible, without regard to whether or not we own it. I have a staff member who regularly engages landlords on enhanced lighting, lowering shrubs, and other steps we believe will better protect students living in private housing.
Support for specific victims is our primary objective in these cases, and I should have been clearer in noting what we have tried to do in each case. My staff understands that we are not to pressure any victim to come forward if they are not ready to do so, and in these two cases, we were very mindful of the fact that these women needed to drive the timeline on their own comfort level. We extended contact information on the Women’s Center, Counseling Services in Student Health, local organizations such as SARA, the University Police officer specifically trained to assist in such cases, and my office. I should have been much clearer in the press conference in making this distinction apparent.
The challenge in each of these cases is knowing when you have adequate facts to notify the broad student community of a safety concern. For example, in the pantry/closet assault on Sept. 19, we still do not know where it occurred or the names of any possible witnesses, despite various outreach efforts. It has also never been reported to the police by anyone present (which is certainly their right). Nonetheless, we decided that enough was known to feel confident including it in the alert. I recognize that reasonable people can disagree in good faith on when and how to act in such cases.
The Sept. 16-17 assault in the Chancellor Street area has resulted in more information being obtained from a variety of sources, although initial reports were conflicting and some ultimately proved to be inaccurate in certain respects in the days that followed. Many facts remain unknown to us, although I know that the CPD is actively working the case. For example, this blog states that the assault occurred at a sorority house, but the information we have is that the victim may have been assaulted elsewhere. In truth, we simply do not know for certain at this point, but we came to believe that enough was known to warrant a safety alert by me and to categorize the assault as having taken place in the Chancellor Street area.
I am glad that more and more people view rape and sexual assault as an exceptionally serious issue on college and university campuses nationwide. Quite honestly, just one is too many. I attended a day long program in Richmond recently put on by the Washington, DC group “Men Can Stop Rape,” and I am encouraged by efforts to begin addressing this issue with young men prior to college age, while also reinforcing it once they are here. That may ultimately prove to be among the most effective prevention strategies we have. I can state that since becoming Dean four years ago, I have worked to build trust with our students regarding the University’s commitment to address these crimes whenever they may occur.
I may not be able to check back with you on this blog as my hands are pretty full right now, but I did want to respond to what I felt were some reasonable questions many of you were asking. I also do not mind criticism, as I believe it both comes with a high profile position and also provides opportunities for constructive feedback to me.
I wish each of you the very best.
Allen Groves, Dean of Students, University of Virginia
Mr. Groves-
Thank you for addressing this issue directly with me, and the readers and contributors at blinkoncrime.com.
I want to say that from my perspective, I am only “about” constructive feedback, when it is taken as such.
To me, that means both parties viewed same as both constructive and impactful enough to exact action.
With much respect, I am not seeing that with regard to the overall attitude regarding safety, and admittedly especially of young woman, at UVA.
I say UVA because as you have read, the “off grounds” discussion is misleading and in some cases, to be frank, inappropriate as I have seen it referenced in both the Morgan Harrington and Yeardley Love cases.
I really believe, and I cop to a former PR career in an unrelated field, that Dr. Sullivan has made commitments associated with this subject matter that need to be addressed in light of these unreported criminal acts, not a counsel-based blather that attempts to put UVA in compliance with the Clery Act because it never had direct contact with a victim until 9/27.
That is completely irrelevant to the reporting requirements, and as you will note in the next piece, there is another sex crime report that has been missed, at a minimum, which seems to have occurred after the young woman who was accosted in the pantry, perhaps even in the same frat.
To say that the frat has not been identified, to say that it is unclear where the rape from 9/17/10 occurred when that sorority and a nearby fraternity all emailed back and forth warning each other about it, outlining exactly where it happened, is disingenuous, and I feel that word is mild.
Were you put in a position to address these issues publicly without proper coaching or information?
I don’t know. What I used to tell my clients was to ask the viewers for feedback, and I daresay your getting that in spades.
Do you really think that any female student watching your conference walked away without feeling she hopes to God it never happens to her but if it did, no way would I go to Groves office?
I apologize if that seems harsh, but again, I do have a solid network of students and their parents who have expressed their similar sentiments to me privately. For the record, I always encourage them to address same with your office personally.
Having spoken off the record to some officials in The Dept of Education, on the surface, this is a Clery violation, period. I admit that determination would be subject to their decision upon evaluation of a formal complaint.
The bottom line here, is safety.
Only you know who the right individual is at UVA that can preform an accurate risk vs. reward assessment and deliver that outcome effectively, but I offer that initiative is of the essence.
There is no “perception” value that outweighs that of a person’s life and I fear if that is not the foundation of future responses to what amounts to a crisis, and therefor students are at immediate risk.
Respectfully Submitted-
Editor In Chief, blinkoncrime.com
Seriously, what is going on in this town :
http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/104151973.html
Posted: 10:46 AM Oct 1, 2010
Another Attempted Robbery on UVa Student
Charlottesville Police are investigating a report of an attempted robbery against a female University of Virginia student that occurred around 1am Friday morning on Elliewood Avenue, near the UVa. corner.
The victim reported she was walking alone on Elliewood Ave. when she was accosted by an African-American male who searched her pockets and asked for money and credit cards.
The suspect then attempted to walk the female student toward the Bank of America branch on the University corner. However, the suspect and victim encountered a group of people, and the suspect fled toward Chancellor Street.
The suspect is described as an African-American male in his early 20s, between 6’1″ and 6’2″. He was wearing a blue zip-up sweatshirt, gray sweat pants and tennis shoes.
Deserved and your welcome.
B
Orangeparkgirl, I don’t know what’s happening in this town, but why, after all the recent news, on every channel and in every paper, was this girl walking by herself on Elliewood Avenue at 1:00 in the morning? I’m not blaming the victim…she didn’t call her attacker from the shadows to come take her money and credit cards, but why did she put herself out there? As much as I hope UVa gets it together, I’m wondering how they can protect these kids if they won’t even attempt to look after themselves.
This is sort of OT:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-60015-9.html
Here is a photograph of someone being subdued by special forces police officers. If someone gets hold of you like this, there is no chance you can escape or scream.
The other photographs in this series are deeply upsetting and of graphic nature. This was a peaceful protest against the demolition of a historic train station, a project that has no support in the population – not just of this town, of the entire country.
Exactly, anotherB. It’s a choke-hold and if applied correctly, the pressure on the Carotid artery will cause the person in the hold to be unconscious around 15 seconds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rear_naked_choke
There are ways to get out of it, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_OL42WVwdA, but you would have to been conditioned to do so.
localcvillegirl, and what about the 7:00 pm and 9:50 p.m. assault / robberies? When is it ok for students to be out and about without an unreasonable expectation of being assaulted? Before noon? 3:00 pm? Never?
And what are the rules when you’re in your own sorority, in your own bed? Sleep with a shotgun?
Just want to know the rules you’re espousing here …
Dear Dean Groves:
I will personally make that 45 minute trip from Harrisonburg to your town and your campus to sit with you face to face and discuss the safety of our young men and women.
“I am glad that more and more people view rape and sexual assault as an exceptionally serious issue on college and university campuses nationwide. Quite honestly, just one is too many.”
Dean, I’m glad that your glad that we are all glad that we understand that we view rape and sexual assault as serious. WTF???
This is 2010, sir. Where are you coming from?!
Of course we view it as serious! I will forgive this though. I could say you’re just a man and that is an ‘archaic a statement’ as I’ve ever heard.
No Allen, I know you do not have the time to read posts of some of the woman here that have been raped, beaten, sexually assaulted. That’s ok, go to your work groups and work!!!
Work to keep our kids safe.
Yes, I do blog on this site and realize that I just might be hiding behind the curtains again BUT here it is Allen, I have kids to protect!!!
Maybe I need to be the one to step up?
Maybe I need to form my own civil task force?
Maybe I need to consult an attorney?
I showed up on YOUR campus to search for Morgan Harrington!
A girl so loved even in her death!
Please don’t make me show up again!
Although…I’m not coming all by myself like last time.
I will bring an army of support, love, and guidance.
I will bring my family and my sister in the box.
I have already been back to your concert arena and I have shopped and spent a wad of dough at your stores; both on and off campus.
All with a girl that happens to love, love, love your city and school.
I too, happen to love your city and your campus.
But we need some reassurance.
Where is your Mayor? Your City Mgr? Your Police Chief?
Hands full?
Govenor McDonnel, then?
Please, I will need to send her out in the world soon.
Soon, as in tomorrow.
You all are paid to protect or do your jobs.
We are doing ours! I swear to God, I’m doing mine!
I happen to want to make sure all of our nation’s youth are protected. There was a time on this very blog, Allen that I was told about frontal lobe issues.
I understand them.
I also understand my kid doesn’t have hers completely developed.
Yes, I wonder how it is we can send our kids off to fight in a war but yet they are not quite developed fully. Know how???
They are guided and have discipline.
So guide and discipline!
You are in a WAR, sir yes sir!
Your Day of Dialogue has come and gone.
Put some guidelines, curfews, whatever it takes in place.
Even if for the time being.
Someone is out there stalking and murdering our children.
Melodramic??? I don’t think so.
Time to take back the night (oh, cripe, the day, the afternoon, the evening) and take it back now!
No, I understand and do not expect you to guard each and every one of them nor do I hold you 100% accountable for their personal safety and choices but what I want from you is to stop parsing words and understand that you have a parental base to support you.
So let us in and let us help.
I’m not even a UVA parent but friends on this board are.
And there are local Cville friends, I’ve never met but I would be there for them.
MsL, localcvillegirl, Lee, RedHill, & others…
Give us the information we need to help our own kids.
Maybe this “Takes a Village” crap is for the birds.
Maybe we just take care of our own???
Oh, how sad to say that.
AWG, I didn’t go to Morgan’s aid because I didn’t have anything better to do. I went because a girl needed help, her family needed it, and yes dear man, your campus, your school, your town needed it.
There were over 1000 of us haulin’ it out there to search your grounds.
We were your village!
Whether you admit it or not!
I’m sure that there is not one single family that wants to be on “HELL ISLAND” along with the Harringtons or the Loves!
But, you sir, have a crisis on your hands.
Do I think that we here could be next, well, shit we already are in some ways.
We have had a riot.
We have had parties outta control.
We have had an apartment collapse.
We have had a deck collapse.
We have had girls on the streets alone.(Bad choices)
We have had the assaults, the rapes, the beatings.
Let me just explain something to you so that you, in return, can understand where it is I am coming from…
A mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife!
Your words of rape or not, sexual or not is beginning to make me sick.
AS A WOMAN!
STOP saying that! PLEEEEASE, I beg of you.
I do not need for acutal penetration for me; as a Mother, to consider something bad, evil, and painful happened to my child.
A blow to the head would be enough.
Sure, there may be legal terms for all of the above but as a MOTHER I could give a crap.
All I would know on some level…
SHE WAS ASSAULTED!!!
Maybe Dean G, I am emotionally charged as I have suffered loss like you will not understand, maybe I have put myself too close to this situation because I have a daughter in and around, out and about your city, your campus, your lots.
Maybe my heart breaks for Dr. and Mrs. Harrington and their son.
Maybe my heart breaks for the Love Family and Yeardley’s sister.
See, family dinners are never the same.
A place is always empty…………
Maybe all of the above are beginning to take their toll on me as…
I’M SCARED AS SHIT!!!!
No, I have not sat with professors in a lecture hall of higher learning but one thing I have sat with and that is a dead body of grief!!!
Yep, that’s right. A sister running from verbal and physical beatings. Rage and control.
A best friend taken out by greed and then massive coverups.
No, neither in the way the Harrington family have suffered but loss none the less.
Please, I need to know that you are doing everything possible!
A need not a want.
That you are not trying to push anything under the rug or maybe you are. I don’t care. Maybe you are all CYA’ing to the max.
OK, I got that.
Go the f*@# ahead but in the mean time, could you watch over my daughter who will be in your fair city, on your fair campus this weekend!!!
She has frontal lobe issues and since I cannot be by her side 100%, I need to rely on you and your services. Plain and simple.
I need you and somehow I would imagine you need me.
I have given my child the gift of fear along with a can of mace, a stun gun, a pocket knife, a cell phone, and oh yea, wait!
I will happen to be a few blocks away from her at all times.
Although she will not know this. See I have GPS on her phone!
I pray it stays with her unlike whomever took Morgan’s away from her, after he assualted her, abducted her, then murdered her.
Dean Groves, say the word…I’m in my car!!!
Why? Because I effin’ care!!!
p.s. welcome to the jungle
Blink On Crime:
Are the Wheels of Justice turning or is a cog missing?
Please let me know.
I believe they are Fish.
B
Dean Groves,
You are starting to understand, but you seem to continue your defense of your and UVA’s actions. While you apologize and say you should have expressed yourself in a different manner, this hindsight only underscores the University’s poorly conceived approach to safety and communication regarding it.
There is no need to investigate, to confer with the victim, to verify the exact location before sending out communications. There was a police report. You must alert your community. You failed to do that.
I would never go to you for help.
Please empower your academic community to speak the truth clearly and quickly. Clarification can come later.
Your rationale for your on ground/off grounds wording is out-of-date. Students can pull up a map instantly if you give them approximate block numbers. When in doubt about the details, ask your students. They know.
Btw, all your ride-alongs, conferences about ‘Men Can Prevent Rape’ are ridiculous when you can’t seem to ‘spit it out’ and get real about what is going on in your midst.
If you think your hands are full now, once you open your eyes, they’re going to be a lot fuller.
@AnotherB,
I looked at your photo of a person being detained by police using a chin hold during a protest event.
While I wouldn’t recommend it in that setting, I note that the mouth is not covered and able to scream; I see that there is bare skin proximate to strong teeth along with a free left hand and arm proximate to vulnerable groin. Also, two legs and feet apparently healthy and able to inflict considerable damage.
I encourage others to look at this photo, if only to make a plan on how you would get away from that threat if it was a BG and not a police officer. (Bite, scream, upward fist thrust, duck the hold, stomp the knee joint, stay low, recover your weapons, RUN like hell…)
Don’t ever be a victim. Fight as if your life depends on it. Because it probably does.
~~~~~~
This is sort of OT:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-60015-9.html
Here is a photograph of someone being subdued by special forces police officers. If someone gets hold of you like this, there is no chance you can escape or scream.
This is from WordGirls above post;
This is sort of OT:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-60015-9.html
Here is a photograph of someone being subdued by special forces police officers. If someone gets hold of you like this, there is no chance you can escape or scream.
Made me think we have a lot of returning service men. They have been trained in special forces.
I hope their training will not put more young women at risk.
Are there statistics on how many of these rapists and murderers received training in our Armed Forces?
Interesting to think about.
wow- tempers are running high? NO?
@ twoforks October 1, 2010 at 1:39 pm
That is a very good video – front choke escape, yes, I believe I could do that, including the kick and the punch. The rear choke escape requires training. The problem I see is this would not happen in a fair martial arts fight. He would compress her neck so that she would lose consciousness straight away.
@ Word Girl October 1, 2010 at 3:11 pm
This is not the usual riot police, these are special forces – they have a reputation of being low intelligence, and the only thing they are trained for is to subdue, or rather to kill a person – this is also why their face isn’t visible – the same rationale as for a hangman. These ones would usually only be deployed in a hostage situation, or at school shootings etc to go straight into battle. No conventional police work required. Goodness knows why they were called in to combat some high school kids and the elderly. (The biggest training facility in the country is near Stuttgart, where the protests took place, and I get the suspicion they sent their trainee terminators to get some practice.) Insofar 200 injured, all on side of the protesters, and one person lost an eye – not the old man on the photo, this seems to be the effect of pepper spray.
My point is: there must be a reason why they were told to use this rear choke, and the poor kid looks totally paralyzed. Probably, it happens when your airways or the blood flow to the brain are being compromised.
Blink and Time Check, thank you thank you thank you. I had told myself earlier today that I would never come back. The protect my campus and my town mentality going on these last days is like the kid getting caught smoking, “They aren’t mine” that didn’t work, so let’s move on to “Well everyone does it”. No excuse.
I am sick of the violence, I am sick of the “let’s blame the victim” How dare she walk outside at 10pm. That is such BS it makes my stomach turn. If I was the Harrington’s, I would be absolutely crazy right now. Absolutely crazy. They need to sue (and I am not a suing kind of girl). The only thing that will change this attitude, that you Blink, have called them on, is cash. Cold hard cash.
The folks in Virginia need to realize it is the 21st century. It is ok for women to have lives, educations, a social life. Just because a woman is out making a life for herself; whether walking from the library or an arena or a frat party, doesn’t mean she is fair game.
To Fish- Nobody says it better than you.
Until all states get rid of their flawed parole systems, the public is at risk. Murderers deserve to be removed from the planet never to be able to harm anyone again.
This one probably only had a sentenance of 25 years and the first time he came up for parole, the board decided to let him out. Criminals of this type cannot be allowed into society.
The University of Virginia is in the spotlight not just in their state, but nationwide. With the abduction and murder of Morgan Harrington followed within months by the death of Yeardley Love, one would think that over the summer the school administration would have worked hard to provide safety measures and proper protection for the students in the fall. But, No they thought they could continue business as usual hoping that it would simply go away.
Well Dean, I think you are wrong. It is not going away. You and your fellow administrators are in the spotlight until this gets corrected.
You could have instigated a 10:00 P.M. curfew on all students that would prevent the silly little girls who instist that nothing is going to happen to them from being out during a dangerous time. This could have been co-ordinated with the local police.
How many patrols have you ridden with? Do you do that on a weekly basis? Are you keenly aware where the dangerous areas are in your community? Where are the lights on your dark campus? Lights that prevent bad guys from operating in concealment.
My list could go on and on, but I think you might be getting the idea.
I hope you come here often to read the posts and learn some valuable lessons.
AnotherB,
I’ll only entertain this one more time.
We can’t allow ourselves to believe that someone is going to get some violence over on us. I am not talking politics or special forces, I’m speaking of your own golden opportunity. That is a small window of opportunity to defend your own life. If you want to think about it, philosophize about the evils in the world, fine. You can demean the intelligence of special forces or you can get real about your own safety. No, I’m not dismissing your ideas of this social situation, but I’m firm about my point of view regarding personal safety.
For me, I’m self-correcting all the time. I do stupid things and take unnecessary risks. I reveal too much about myself. Yet, I know that I will sometime have to make a choice. I hope your clarity will resound with advice for all those who follow your comments here at Blinkoncrime.
We need to encourage each other in this vulnerable world.
And lets challenge those who are in the business of protection to step it up a notch or two.
When I first read this, I felt you were bring overly stern with our dear poster anotherB.
I read it again.
That was not your intent. Your intent was to say.. People, the issue of personal security is that you can’t count on anyone else to provide it and based on your surroundings and situation, you must be responsible for it, and diligent.
I agree with this. This has to be one’s personal creedo but I will be the first to tell you it is very difficult to teach young people. This is something that needs to be part of the home-life AND educational curriculum at a young age.
That said, when we PAY FOR and entrust an institution to provide a level of safety and security that has legal obligations under same, I expect they are either followed, or if not, they are sanctioned into compliance and reporting.
Another issue here- The Greek system is draconian. Enough already.
B
Texas Gpa.
Security lights, for heck’s sake! Might be a good start.
Someone wrote that the eerie parking lot had been trimmed back.
How’s it looking now after our lush summer?
I agree that a curfew, seminars, required buddy system, more…could have been formulated over the summer months.
Oh,wait! Isn’t summer when we have vacations? Oh, well.
The last known attack, I mean sexual assault on a UVA student prior to the start of the semester Was July 19th, it was the second attempt ( this time successful) that evening.
I am not seeing the “Take back the night” here.
B
FISH,
O ye of many heartfelt posts.
This one nailed it! Type it up and send it out. Sign my name x one zillion. Your writing is zeroing in on the heart and the brain.
There is no way you could be misunderstood.
Now, UVA, Dean, what is your response? If you don’t know, well…
Tomorrow morning I’ll be starting the heat under the mesquite, here on the West Coast. I expect the Mid-States will be gathering their oak branches and the East Coast will have plenty of long-burning embers to contribute.
Fish, we are not going to stop until we get justice. I’m fighting mad and trying very hard to follow your example of committment.
As usual, I’m reading the most recent comment backward so I’ve just seen TX Grandfather’s statement about “this one.” Maybe there’s another person who is being discussed here but I assume he’s referring to Mr. Arnold. I remember this killing even though I had forgotten some of the details of the trials and sentencing. Mr. Arnold was sentenced to 40 years WITH 27 YEARS SUSPENDED! I understand, he was technically a kid at the time though he was tried as an adult. I understand, he had a low IQ though was found capable of standing trial. I understand, he served his time. What I don’t understand is why, at the time of sentencing the decision was made to suspend 27 years. Why even bother with giving such a long sentence and then suspend almost all the time? He shot a man 10 times! Sure, there were others involved who probably influenced him, but he was the trigger man. I’ve been able to find very little on the internet about the trails. One of the others involved was a female 4th year UVA student. She and her boyfriend were arrested at Dillard House. I assume that’s a UVA dorm though I don’t know for sure. She was convicted though I don’t remember her charge or the sentence so she could still be in jail, maybe not. According to what I’ve read, though again I don’t remember the details myself, the boyfriend went free because some of the evidence was mishandled and deemed inadmissible. The editorial I was reading placed blame for the evidence being thrown out at the door of the Commonwealth’s Attorney (prior to Denise Lunsford.)
I know everyone hates the designation of on grounds/off grounds, but I do not believe, maybe I’m wrong, that the University would be able to place a curfew on students who do not live in dormitories. Maybe Grandfather was saying it sarcastically, but while we can warn these young men and women of the dangerous areas of the city, while we can warn them not to drink to a point that they aren’t aware of their surroundings, while we can warn them not to walk alone at night, it would be impossible to put them in a perpetual state of lock down. Some of the young people are partying to excess, just traveling through student housing areas OFF GROUNDS tells you that. Hundreds of solo cups littering lawns on Saturday and Sunday mornings and we all know those cups weren’t used for lemonade. I emphasize off grounds here because I never venture onto University grounds unless as part of a tour or for a sporting or entertainment event. I did not go to college at UVA, have no family working for the University, and no close connection to any students or alumni so there’s no reason for me to be familiar with the less touristy areas. I have preached never walk alone, but not every student at UVA has deep pockets despite what a lot of locals seem to think. I know that some of these young people aren’t coming from parties, they’re either heading to or coming home from night jobs. UVA has an escort service though I don’t know how large an area it covers or how many escorts are available. Along with beefed up police presence in the area, both UVAPD and Charlottesville PD,, more should be done to increase the availability of escorts.
Without a wall around our universities and colleges, whether it be UVA, Virginia Tech, Yale, or any college in this country, students will never be completely safe. Students are human, so there are good and bad in that population, just as in the towns surrounding our colleges. There will always be student on student, local on student and student on local crimes. It’s a hard fact to accept, but it’s true. If there’s ever going to be a change to that fact, our colleges and universities aren’t going to be able to do it alone, their surrounding communities are as much apart of the problem as the student population. All must come together to work on the problem, locals, administrators, and students. Hopefully, in the coming days we will learn more details about the attacks on the two young women and the man on the weekend of the 17th. I don’t mean about them personally, but Charlottesville PD owes it to locals and the University to be forthcoming will all information that does not violate the vicims’ rights to privacy. I’m unclear as to whether or not a report has been filed with either PD for the pantry attack and the young man who was struck in the face. If not, these young people need to do so. LE can’t do their job properly without assistance from the victims. I understand that sexual attacks aren’t easy to talk about, especially to a stranger, but third party reports aren’t sufficient to provide the details LE needs to do their investigation and hopefully solve these crimes. Future attacks to their fellow students and locals could and probably will be worse. With the history of the man who has been arrested for the robberies, if he is guilty, these young women were in the grips of a killer. Their fate could have been such much worse.
Thank you Blink for taking on this issue. The Dean may (?) be trying, but he does not sound like he is in touch with this issue, especially about the “calling in the victim to discuss the issue.” I cannot think of a more insensitive way to address a victim of sexual violence, than to be “called in to the dean’s office.” That whole mentality is just bizarre.
I am sure that UVA does a lot of things right, but the spins that they have attempted to put on certain issues, such as certain crimes “not happening on grounds” or “Morgan’s abduction happened on the bridge, not at JPJA” seem overly defensive and also a way to play the blame the victim card, in their conveyance of information.
It is like the three monkeys, “see no evil”, etc. I think that started with the previous president.
Crimes occur everywhere, that is a fact, but the UVA-speak PR, and delays in reporting crimes to the student body, (was nothing learned from the Tech killings about immediate conveyance of information?), make me suspect that UVA is playing games with important information. Actually, more than “suspect”.
Not to mention the “calling the victim” into the dean’s office to discuss the assault, what a bizarre idea.
I am getting the picture that UVA thinks it exists to serve UVA, and its alums and benefactors, not the current students. That is a big problem.
I heard from an attorney friend yesterday that said that according to VA statute, it is actually against the confidentiality laws attached to a rape crime for the University to reach out to the victim about the incident in the first place. He said, the 3rd party account should have prompted a conversation with Cville PD on the 17th.
I have not had a chance to research this, but I agree totally that the notion that UVA has any standing to interview this victim for assessment of “whether or not a sex assault occurred” is ludicrous. A forcible rape police report was on file, period.
If the investigating body (Cville) will not violate this girls rights under the protections of statute and discuss her case with UVA, why the Hell does UVA think they have a right to, AFTER they told same?
B
anotherB,
Sorry if I sounded harsh (and like a jerk). Blink was right to correct me. I hope you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt when I say I mean well and was just a little cranky and frustrated about the UVA situation in particular and about the lack of self-protection I see, in general.
You are very valued and I apologize.
WG
I would think that since UVA’s PD is supposedly a fully certified Virginia LE Agency that their Police Force would be more than capable, under the law, to share necessary case information with neighboring LE Agencies. If , in fact, they are a fully accredited Police Department then UVA should have their own detectives on the force who could legally compare notes with the local force and then relay only the facts of the case, to the Administration, while still maintaining the victim’s confidentiality.
VCU, in Richmond, has a “real” police Department and if I am not mistaken, so does Georgetown University. Both of these schools are very good about sharing information with their neighboring LE Agencies and Alerting students in a very timely fashion. UVA should look at the VCU Alerts for tips on how to get information out quickly. Even parents can sign up for text alerts. Even after my student graduated i am still getting text alerts. UVA, you can do the same!
Katie
The Taylor Behl case did not get solved until the Richmond police were called in. I don’t think most college or university police departments have people fully qualified to do such investigations.
Msl
Your points about not being able to lock down an area adjacent to a school are well taken. You cannot put a fence around such an area, but the school could certainly have worked with CPD to increase patrols with the authority to stop and question anyone walking alone after 10:00 P.M. and to offer a safe ride for them.
Although I did not mention it, your point about alcohol and drugs is well taken. Until the UVA PD and CPD make up their mind to do drug sweeps with dogs thoughout the campus area and put some people in jail for possession, this campus cannot be made safe.
Word Girl
Your mention of vacations is right on the mark. The administration was certainly out on vacation on this one. I was very serious about the list of things that could be done. The few that I mentioned are nothing compared to the list I have made. One I didn’t mention was a quality video system throughout the campus and nearby streets that could be monitored by both UVA and CPD.
If I were the Dean, I would get my police chief and we would patrol the area, two in a car, and I would be looking for every type of potential concealment and what could be done to eleminate it. I would take a video camera and shoot all areas of the campus. For certain, there would be no more access to the area for vans and RV’s at lanigan field. It would be fenced with a steel pipe fence and have an electric gate with video covering the whole area. I would light up the area around JPJA as bright as daylight and that would include the practice fields amd all parking lots near by.
I don’t know if there are co-ed dorms on this campus. If there are, that would be one of my targets. They would be eleminated.
If my security patrols found a male around a female dorm after 10:00 P. M. on a school night, they would be in real trouble. If I found a female around a male dorm, they would get equal treatment.
Some of this would seem pretty tough, but it is effective. We have young women without experience on their own for the first time. Good parenting says that we protect them as much as possible while they learn what it is like to be without mom and dad.
ATG-
While your suggestion is excellent, this has ALREADY been mandated by the findings of the 2004 Study regarding campus security/private security study that resulted in 2008 legislature that has NOT been enacted to date. Specifically, the VA Dept of Justice has not received approval of emergency ammendments they requested in DECEMBER 2009.
Yes, after Morgan went missing from JPJ.
B
TGF, you are absolutely correct about the Behl case and I know first hand that the City Police responded to my email and phone calls 9 days sooner than the VCU Police! But it was the VCU Police who had Ms. Crabill identify pictures found by online blog participants. It was with her help that the VCU Police discovered Taylor’s remains near the Crabill property. Since 2005, VCU has made amazing advances in their cooperation with both the community at large and the students as well as their parents. They also have, for as long as I can remember, included innumerable references to personal security in their Freshman orientation…pointing out the high crime areas and what to be aware of.
In fact, in many cases the VCU Police respond to off campus crime, called in to 911, right alongside the Richmond City Police…I have seen this firsthand…at least since 2005.
UVA could take a few lessons from how VCU incorporated new or strengthened existing policies and security issues as well as text and email Alerts. Granted they probably want to avoid lawsuits as well.
But, there are two things, that I have noticed, which may explain the different responses between the two universities in re: to security and crime in and around the university grounds. First of all their is no denying the high crime rates in an Urban Environment. Secondly, there is virtually no attitude of economic entitlement at VCU. Unlike the generally homogeneous student body at UVA, the majority of students at VCU represent a diverse population which hails from every level of the academic, economic, and social community.
Oh, I want to reiterate the reasons why my family choose to leave UVA out of the mix in the college application process:
1. The Homogenous and Conservative look and feel of the campus. (We could have overlooked this were it not for the second reason.)
The Dark, Bushy, Wooded campus with so many secluded and low lit enclaves. We had a very bad feeling about the security aspect of a barely 18 year old alone on this campus. We visited the school during the day and had this feeling. We didn’t even bother to do a guided tour.
k says:
October 3, 2010 at 11:53 am
TGF, you are absolutely correct about the Behl case and I know first hand that the City Police responded to my email and phone calls 9 days sooner than the…
k says:
October 3, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Oh, I want to reiterate the reasons why my family choose to leave UVA out of the mix in the college application process:…
These are me…my login gives the choices for other websites too.
Off topic, a while back we were researching James Melvin Brown III who was a twenty-two year old who went missing. I read a comment on a news scource that blog that was dated July 6th that he had been found. Is this true? Someone may have commented several weeks ago on this finding and I may have missed it…
Blink
If my suggestions paralled the findings of the commission authorized in 2004 and they have languished in the legislature for six years, what in your opinion will it take to get these things moving?
What about the emergency regulations from 2009? Are they in the same place?
Maybe we need to find a way to shine some light on this problem as well. Could the Governor issue an emergency order?
I find it hard to believe that potential legislation affecting a university would not be monitored by every college and university in Virginia. Are they so arrogant as to believe that they can just ignore it? If I were the person,President, Dean or other administrator, responsible for campus safety I would be looking always to find better methods and techniques to accomplish my job.
The Gov, who also happens to be a UVA parent, is in receipt of an emergency amendment draft, since Dec, 2009.
I have not seen an updated VA DOJ Meeting or minutes since then.
B
K
Thank you for your post about the Behl case. All I had to go on was television reporting. They made it seem that VCU police were not very competent. I should have known better. TV reporters always work to see if they can make someone or an agency look bad.
It would appear that VCU has learned how to co-operate into local areas with Richmond PD. This is something that has to happen in all communities where colleges and universities are located.
I know from working with several county sheriffs in Texas that often territory is more important than solving a crime. Ego to the Nth degree. The loosers are the public. This is usually well hidden so the public doesn’t have any idea it goes on.
Thanks for the update Blink. Nine months and nothing from the governor is not a good sign. Is is going to take a lightning bolt to wake these people up?
quote :I know from working with several county sheriffs in Texas that often territory is more important than solving a crime. Ego to the Nth degree. The loosers are the public. This is usually well hidden so the public doesn’t have any idea it goes on.
Typical this territorial marking, as you state it, its convient and ganglike behavior, just like hiding behind your political color is, or the random number of your sat channel
Lady justice are blind to such motivations and timeless governors of our lives.
Morgan was outside ‘buddy system territory’ outside the JPJA, The UVA (the bridge) and finally outside of AF. As far as LE goes they r limited in their authorities or hiding behind same. You know what? These arguments sound…. cowardice
In these modern times, crime and terrorism knows no more borders and moves fast.
I am certainly happy that this cry for change is being heared and the tables will be turned against the bad guys thanks partly thru social networking ! Searching for similar crimes in the recent past was certainly shocking, discouraging now with DNA testing from the attacks, more awareness and a public eager to report and bring the killers to justice I am sure we can soon expect a lot of arrests and naming and shaming of these guilty TERRITORIAL beasts.
I still think the focus should stay on solving Morgan’s murder because this will loosen a thread which might connect to a tapestry and reveal related assaults. Meaning other crimes will be solved.
J4M
While your suggestion is excellent, this has ALREADY been mandated by the findings of the 2004 Study regarding campus security/private security study that resulted in 2008 legislature that has NOT been enacted to date. Specifically, the VA Dept of Justice has not received approval of emergency ammendments they requested in DECEMBER 2009.
DECEMBER 2009? Christsakes its almost DECEMBER 2010? Emergency means a little sooner than a year later. GET ON THE BALL!!!
@crimewriter:
33.crimewriter says:
October 3, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Off topic, a while back we were researching James Melvin Brown III who was a twenty-two year old who went missing. I read a comment on a news scource that blog that was dated July 6th that he had been found. Is this true? Someone may have commented several weeks ago on this finding and I may have missed it…
___________________________________________
Crimewriter, I’m interested in what’s happened with this kid’s case, too. Only after reading your post above did I find this (below), but I cannot find additional details. All it says is “He’s been found,” dated July 6. I imagine it’s the same piece you referred to.
http://www.newsplex.com/mobi/news?storyid=94512654&comments=y
Someone alerted me to this blog and quite honestly, I am horrified. It seems to me that all of you have extensive background knowledge in the law; however, most of you haven’t the faintest idea of what it is like to be a student at the University of Virginia. The fact that some of you are seriously discussing the possibility of violating the civil liberties of legal adults in the name of promoting safety is absurd. The imposition of curfews and the interrogation of any student walking alone at night by officers are clear infringements on our rights as adults in this country. Most students by the time they are enrolled in the University are 18 years of age and are therefore of legal age to decide how they wish to behave. Do not misunderstand this; I am NOT saying that I think victims of violence or sexual assault bring this upon themselves. I have been personally affected by the crimes that have occurred over the last year at the University. These are MY friends that you all are discussing, which is why I am so bothered that their attacks are being used as a platform for many of these suggestions and criticisms.
The crimes that have been occurring in the area are worrying, yes. As a female student I don’t feel safe walking alone at night. However, I shouldn’t have been walking home alone before these attacks occurred. I like many of my fellow students was living in the delusion that the University is separate from the city of Charlottesville; ignoring the fact that some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the area are only a few blocks away. These incidents are wearing away that delusion and forcing everyone to behave accordingly. Coordinating with a friend or several friends when walking late at night should have been commonplace, but it wasn’t. We are now rapidly correcting for this.
The students need to take responsibility for themselves and their friends and hold each other accountable for the safety of our community. It should not be the role of the University to assume the responsibility for each individual student and their behavior. By placing the responsibility on the students it will encourage a better, safer community for longer. Furthermore, students should assume the responsibility for securing the safety on and off grounds because it is an essential part of our development into adulthood. Learning to behave responsibly and safely is an important aspect of the social growth associated with attending college. The practices that we are all using in response to these attacks, will bear with us after graduation, when living in major metropolitan areas.
The university should continue to provide the resources for students that promote safety and bystander responsibility. Imposing a top down mandate will not cause a change in the campus culture, which is necessary to promote the safety you all seek to secure in our community. The change needs to grow organically from the students to make a long-standing impact. Thankfully, this change is rapidly occurring in light of the recent crimes.
All of this is to say that the University is right not to impose ridiculous mandates that infringe the rights of students, simply because some over-bearing parents, who clearly don’t trust their own parenting skills–if they did they would trust that their children would use those skills to stay safe–are asking for them. Preservation of our freedoms as adults (young or not) should take precedence to security concerns. Similar arguments were made for the Japanese American internment camps and McCarthyism, both of which are dark stains on American history that we don’t wish to repeat.
I think your points are valid, especially given your per view as a student at “ground zero” so to speak, and I appreciate your participation.
What is interesting to me, is that although your concern for Civil Liberties is predominant, you never mention that UVA, as well as all Higher Education Institutions partipating in Federal financial assisstance are obligated under FEDERAL LAW to report said crimes within 2 days. Er go, that is a civil “right” under the law expected and obligated without question.
Our liberties are afforded to us in this great nation but they are not one dimensional. Case in point would be when someone infringes on someone else’s in a criminal act. Self-governing bodies including communes and Indian Reservations are still subject to “rule of law”, so I am pretty sure that includes Frats and Sororities.. jus sayin’
What percentage of UVA students fall under the “asisstance” model? How might they feel if the non-reporting actions jeopardized their ability to receive tuition assisstance? Would the loss of such matriculation be ok with those whose parents are paying full tuition, jeopardized scholarships, etc? Would they be willing to pick up the slack to keep enrollment strong?
Parenting skills do not come into play when it comes to a predator, and I have a feeling that comment is going to raise the cackles of morer than a few posters, let’s say it together.. “O the wordly knowledge of the minds youth not yet the world have seen.”
Lastly, with all due respect, comparing instituting a curfew for student safety while there is/are a rash of rapes, assaults, burglaries and the murders of Morgan Harrington and Yeardley Love looming over the past year to communism witch hunts and war-based holding camps is moronic.
I would have made a lousy hippie, I just decided.
B
@ A Student: You’re correct that curfews infringe upon people’s rights but civil law, during extreme cases of civil unrest such as riots and even 911, have caused and allowed local governments to institute curfews. This is something that happens even in this day and age.
Now, curfews are extreme and really all the university has to do is to comply with the existing regulations. At the very least they could just send out general reminders to the entire university community in re: to personal safety. Other universities (just this week Maryland, home of the Terrapins sent out such) do this whenever there is a spike in local crime.
Just before I forget, shouldn’t ALL neighboring LE Agencies be sharing information so as to coordinate strategies to catch and arrest the criminals who really aren’t too worried about crossing jurisdictional lines? Bad guys are opportunist so comparing notes would seem to be an obvious alternative to assuming that a guy committing offenses in one city or county isn’t also doing it in neighboring communities as well.
Maybe this is where we need to start. Maybe folks need to rally for more cross-jurisdictional conference on local crime. That would and should include any agency (UVA Police) that is a so-called fully accredited LE Agency. If they really are equal in LE status to any other local PD then give them the tools and the respect that the need to be effective and that is given to any county or city police department.
If the university police are limited in their LE abilities, as compared to other LE Agencies, then maybe they need to be called security officers and any 911 calls within the local jurisdiction need to revert back to the Local LE in charge of the county or city in which the university is situated.
Hello astudent, I am happy that you and your friends are beginning to talk about the need to make better decisions about being out alone- especially late at night ect. ect. I’m sorry that this did not happen sooner.
You wrote:
The crimes that have been occurring in the area are worrying, yes. As a female student I don’t feel safe walking alone at night. However, I shouldn’t have been walking home alone before these attacks occurred. I like many of my fellow students was living in the delusion that the University is separate from the city of Charlottesville; ignoring the fact that some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the area are only a few blocks away. These incidents are wearing away that delusion and forcing everyone to behave accordingly. Coordinating with a friend or several friends when walking late at night should have been commonplace, but it wasn’t. We are now rapidly correcting for this..
a student, this stance of yours and your friend’s horrify me- what I mean is- you are still going under the assumption that if you and your friends simply do not walk alone, or coordinate times you will be safe.. S#it happens- Morgan Harrington did not go to the concert alone- she mistakenly was locked out- thereby rending her coordinated safe plan to stay with friends moot. -
The latest victim was in a fraternity house- amongst friends- it took little time to find herself alone- and then pushed into a pantry…
a student, are you saying that you and your friends are going to be with one another EVERY second? To me, that seems as far-fetched and unreasonable as you find a mandatory curfew to be-
I am glad that you and your friends are now realizing that it is a delusion to think that UVA was separate from the town and surrounding areas. But a student, please understand, that these attackers need not be from the bad areas of Charlottesville or the wrong side of the tracks- It scares me to think that you may believe that these perpetrators are “lowlife” bad guys- They could very well be your neighbors- your classmates- no one is sure. So please, do not lull yourself into a false sense of security- if you are amongst fellow students or friends of friends at a party or other. Always BE AWARE
No, I am not trying to get you to buy into my paranoia, I am just trying to get you to imagine the bad guy may not look like a disheveled-hobo… understand?
A student, I am sorry that talk of a mandatory curfew horrifies you and your friends. I am not one for taking away citizens rights, and I understand your concerns- Do you understand ours?
You wrote that you and your friends are quickly correcting for past behaviors that may have been unsafe- Good, a student, but this is not a game- you get no do overs-
Yes, you and your friends and fellow students have a right to grow and learn from your mistakes. You do have a responsibility to yourself and to one another to remain vigilante and aware- to look out for one another, and take responsibility for yourselves- but a student, as I wrote this isn’t a game- you and your friends could be in danger- How is putting all of the responsibility for an attack on your shoulders helping to stop the attacks?
IMO a student, you and your friends and fellow students need to stand up and tell your school and the town in which it resides to take responsibility also. Work together for solutions. Demand better lighting around campus- ect.
a student, a temporary curfew is the least of your worries, although as I wrote, I understand your feelings. I just think that there are much more horrifying issues that need to be addressed, before a fear of curfews even rears up- especially since,it was merely mentioned by some here, and most definitely not advocated as a solution to these attacks.
A student, thank you for sharing your thoughts- please- take care-
What a great post from Claire Kaplan on UVa’s new student safety forum.
Claire Kaplan · 1 day ago
Off grounds safety includes safety inside residences, where most sexual assaults and intimate partner violence occurs. Yes, safety on the streets is important. But of all the comments I see here, I see nothing about the most common kind of violent crime: violence among students. Where are the people taking responsibility for their own actions? It’s easy to get diverted from the more serious problems when random perpetrators attack students out of the blue. Yes, the four recent assaults are frightening, but so many more happen every weekend here, on and off grounds: acquaintance rape/sexual assault; sexual battery; abuse, and so on. All the cops in the world aren’t going to know when someone is being assaulted in an apartment.
http://www.uvastudentcouncil.com/student-services/safety/
Katie
It may be different in Virginia, but usually the 911 system is handled by a single agency that has the responsibility to dispatch LE, EMT and Fire Protection for an area. Therefore, a 911 call could be handed off to the apprpriate LE agency. In the case of UVA and Charlottesville, the 911 address map that appears on the 911 screen would also tell the dispatcher/operator which agency has jurisdiction.
Mom3.0 and Blink
Wonderful answers to the comments by A Student. She is being very “fair minded” as is usually the case with people her age. We as parents and grandparents with much more life experience are willing to give up a little freedom for a while in order to ensure safety till a situation is cleared up.
As was pointed out, danger cannot always be determined in advance. I am glad she is reading this forum. If she can get over the “fairness” problem there is much for her and her fellow students to learn.
What she really doesn’t face is that if a curfew were to be enacted, that would be less possibilities that a BG could stalk and harm. The reason for a curfew is to reduce the number of people out and about after a certain time so that LE could stop and question those that they find. LE cannot be everywhere and in a bad crime situation, anything that helps them do their job is good.
I have been on this planet over 75 years and I guarantee that with one punch I could put her or most of her friends on the ground unable to defend herself. This is what youth and inexperience does not see.
She has never witnessed, as I have, a young woman frozen with terror when a BG accosted them and I hope she never does.
If only every young woman attending college and living in an apartment could have an aunt who knows how to evaluate the safety of a building and its tennants.
Someone needs to write a book for parents to help them understand how to do a proper evaluation and provide additional safety for doors,windows and lighting.
Could our pixie poet do this?
ATG-
I love your support.. What an important idea.
B
ps. may be a while. I am currently working on The Adventures Of Fat Willie with Blink Jr
B
Dean Groves — IMO a bad mistake to post here, assuming it is you. You will accomplish nothing positive.
k — UVA is not a homogeneous school at all, with the exception of academic qualifications. Access UVA is one of the broadest outreaches to qualified students of all income levels in the country. The program allowing kids from certain community colleges to automatically transfer in if they make a certain GPA also expand the reach far beyond that of other schools. It also has the highest minority graduation rate of any state school in the nation. Perhaps you were looking at it 30 years ago or you just came with preconceived notions.
Honestly, the curfew idea is insane.
Redly-
Why do you think it was a mistake for Dean Groves to post here?
I will do my best not to be offended at the “if it was you” part. You really think I would allow that post without confirming his identity?
What gives?
B
no offense meant. I am not sophisticated enough to know how you can confirm poster’s ids so just always assume whenever I am on the internet that I do not know who I am talking to.
just dumb for him to post here IMO. Without meaning to single out fish, who I think is a great poster, he just attracts responses like hers above that are emotional and ignore or misstate what he says. Its a lose lose proposition again IMO. He shouldn’t be here trying to explain away the use of terminology or argue the semantics of a federal law that is too confusing for a lot of lawyers to understand. He should focus on doing his job for the students.
Hi Redly, my impression and that of UVA is very recent 2004 and then 1993 and 1980. So, it traverses 30 years but it is as recent as the 2008 graduation of some of my child’s best friends. UVA IS CONSERVATIVE of thought and attracts a conservative upper class group of students many of whom have had the privilege of going to some of the top public and private high schools. Federal Law requires all university to admit a broad ethnic and economic range of students. UVA meets those minimum federal standards but you can not ignore the fact, in 2010, that the school appeals and attracts mainly to what some might refer to as a preppy or conservative group of students. It appeals more to the upper and upper=middle class and intellectual crowds than say does GMU, VCU, JMU, ODU, Christopher Newport, and Radford. There is no denying that…that hasn’t changed much in 30 years.
Redly- Hello, Excuse me- but I think Mr.Groves did alot of good posting here. Not all responses were like Fish’s- not to say fish isn’t very entitled to her opinions- There were quite a few posters including myself, that were very welcoming and had several important points to make and questions to ask, just as Fish did, but perhaps in a more diplomatic manner. Afterall- Fish is not known for pulling punches.
As I said in my response to Mr. Groves, his posting here, allowed me to see that he is open to hearing constructive criticism, and that he is really trying to make UVA safer- he showed he was not afraid to use/look at unconventional ways to make his students safer.
He acknowledged his shortcomings and vowed to do better- How is that not accomplishing something positive? I think it was a good move- although I do agree that he should keep his focus on his students- I believe he was- and extended his focus to include the parents of those students, and other locals by posting here.
As for your comment about the curfew- AGAIN- it was only MENTIONED as a possible way to keep the students safer- and as I read the comments, was only brought as a temporary bandaid/- not as a real solution.
I can understand astudent misinterpreting some posters brainstorming ideas, as a call to arms- but really Redly- I expected you to understand that no one is actually calling for a mandatory lockdown/curfew. Certainly not me. Afterall, it isn’t too confusing for even lawyers to understand, so certainly we BOCer’s should be able to understand the difference- LOL
Peace Redly