On Saturday at approximately 3:30 a.m. a woman in her twenties was threatened at gunpoint and raped in Coconut Grove. The incident took place near Mary and Virginia streets and was not the first time such an event occurred.
On Halloween another woman in her twenties was raped by an attacker fitting a similar description: black male, medium build, approximately 5 feet 7 inches and 175 pounds.
University of Miami students who go out to the Grove at night should take additional safety precautions and not travel alone. Anything can happen, even in Coral Gables as evidenced by the street sweeper accident involving junior Bianca Milov earlier this semester.
Don’t leave friends behind and travel in groups, especially as the night winds down and the witching hour approaches. Be smart about going out and make sure at least one other person knows where you are at all times.
Rave Mobile Safety offers a service that could help address these safety issues. The Rave Guardian system transforms students’ cellular phones into personal safety devices with a panic call feature and special safety timer mode; students can turn on the alarm while walking home and local police are alerted if the student is unable to turn it off. Both features would allow students who feel unsafe a way to get help immediately and could prove integral if such safety issues escalate.
Regardless of whether a new security protocol is put in place, students and security need to get creative with solutions as incidents continue to occur on and around campus.
Editorials represent the majority view of The Miami Hurricane editorial board.
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November 30th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
This is crazy. With all the studying and stresses that a student has to worry about, violent criminals should be the last thing that we would need.
I won’t be using my real name on this post for fear of retaliation and prosecution. I was a student at UM from 1999-2003. Class of ’03 In that time I was robbed more than once and mugged once. I decided that the best form of security was a firearm. I lived in one of the religious houses on campus, and I kept a gun with me. We constantly received threats from off campus activists. Since I am a member of a people group that has a long history of prosecution, I wanted to add to this conversation. I am not some right-wing crazy nut, but I was curious… when is the University going to defend the civil rights of all of its students. Recently the supreme court stated clearly that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right. It stated that having a gun in a court house or in a school with underage minors <18 year old was prohibited. But on a college campus! I had my license to carry concealed… I lived in a private dwelling on campus. It was my home. The law protected me to carry on my person. I thankfully never had to use my gun, but I did have a real sense of security. An unarmed rent-a-cop or even a university police officer did not have the same training that I have with firearms. Maybe the school should offer firearms training for students. Until then I will continue to carry.