Of course parents, students and faculty over at Bradley University are concerned about the increase in crime on campus, and rightfully so. As a result, they have increased police patrols and added other security measures. However, now the Bradley Police are providing a shuttle service. How sad is that, really?
In a City the size of Peoria, on a campus the size of Bradley University (a school that is considered one of the best), crime is so bad, that students need to be coddled with a shuttle service? Part of the college experience is the walkability of the campus. How embarrassing for Peoria, Bradley students are officially too good to walk through our City.
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Bradley University begins free nighttime shuttle service for students, faculty, staff
Peoria, IL (November 27, 2012) – Bradley University is launching a shuttle service for students, faculty and staff in the Bradley Police patrol area starting this evening.
Specially trained students employed by the Bradley Police Department’s Student Patrol will drive the Hilltop Safety Cruiser, a van that accommodates up to 6 passengers. The free shuttle will operate from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. seven days a week in the patrol area that extends from Moss Avenue to Columbia Terrace and Western Avenue to Sheridan. The shuttle will be radio dispatched by calling 309 677-2800 and also will provide flag-down rides. Students, faculty and staff must display a valid Bradley ID.
The Hilltop Safety Cruiser will circulate through the patrol area but will not have defined stops. The new service supplements the walking escort patrol that has been available to students for several years.
The Hilltop Safety Cruiser will operate when the University is in session during the regular academic year. Source
16 comments:
Having fewer people walking around does not make your area safer.
When it comes to walkability.. um not so much really. Bradley has been citing quite the opposite as justification for expanding parking on campus. Faculty and students need to be able to drive everywhere and it is critical to their recruiting efforts.... so they say.
As a parent with a soon to be college student. Yeah walkability looms large but I may be a minority in that viewpoint.
Walkability is huge, of course. Bradley is not the first university to provide nighttime transportation. Often colleges offer chaperone services to accompany female students across campuses. Emergency alert systems are found on campus and in parking lots. With the economy the way it is, crime is escalating everywhere including Bradley University. I hardly consider doing the right thing by offering protective services coddling.
My daughter is a freshman in college this year so for the past couple of years we visited and read up on colleges...almost every single one made it a point to tell us that there was a late night shuttle for safety reasons...
I guess it is sad, but that is the way it is.
In choosing a college for our daughter, we looked at the size of the city, available amenities, along with the ability to walk to specific destinations and we chose Bradley
College life is not how it was back in the day. Those kids pay a large sum of money to matriculate at BU. A little "coddling" should be par for the course.
Will the "Walk of Shame'' become the "Shuttle of Shame"?
even the men on campus are concerned about safety. What does not make the news (of course)is the number of crime incidents on and around BU. My coworker is a BU grad student and she receives alerts all the time about instances of crime...generally hold ups involving guns. City covers all this up.
Also what didn't make any news was the body on Gale Ave last evening. More crime not reported so the council can spend money on crap we don't need.
I live in the Bradley neighborhood and also receive Bradley alerts (signed up for the service when first made available). Since the beginning of the Fall semester, no more than six alerts have gone out. The alert system has been wonderful for the neighborhood. I've long ago let go of the notion that neighborhood crime will be completely eliminated. But, I have been noticed that the problems have decreased over the last year or so.
Let's place the blame squarely where it belongs, on the thugs (typically in their youth) who spend more energy and incur greater risk in committing theft crimes than they'd have to spend to attain the same amounts of money by starting their own legit businesses or working for other people.
What I don't get... is why fail at school and go on to be a thug, risking life and limb for chump change, and possibly spend the rest of your life in prison, when you could do well in school, become a banker, swindle billions, and get slapped on the wrist if you get caught.
If you want to be a crook, there are much more profitable ways to be a crook than a thug.
'White' collar crime pays better.
" But, I have been noticed that the problems have decreased over the last year or so."
Yes things are better here. Hence the Safety Cruiser.
Student safety is primary. Good job, Bradley. It's called "not waiting for something awful to happen, to act." Can't imagine anyone finding fault with this.....
Many thoughts on this issue...
First, security has obviously been an issue in this and many areas of Peoria and it will take more than a small private university shuttle bus to solve its problems.
Walkability is is inherently part of the "college experience." Most students don't have cars nor should they need them. Most great small cities have a university and generally they are very walkable/bikeable and Peoria isn't close to being one of them.
A shuttle service for students isn't what is needed, but a better public transit system as a whole. Most "city" schools, even DePaul, offer a similar service, but this is exactly where we are missing the boat on what is truly needed.
Yes, parents look at walkability in the form of "Is this a great place?" But they look at crime and socioeconomic issues far more seriously. I wouldn't put Bradley in any elite category after it spends $50 million arena but can't figure out how to make a better neighborhood.
While I am also pro-walkability, I have spent all of this fall visiting what felt like EVERY. COLLEGE. IN. ILLINOIS! (Can you tell I'm tired of college visits?) And every one of them has mentioned an evening shuttle. I'm surprised that Bradley didn't already have one in place. There's really no such thing as a 100% safe campus (or city) and I'd much rather have my daughter taking a shuttle after dark, than walking.
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