Break-ins put students on high alert

Palmetto North apartments. Photo courtesy famu.edu

Campus safety is one of the biggest issues that the student body has to be cautious about.

As of late, the most recent reports of campus incidents have been car break-ins at the south side dormitories on the campus of Florida A&M University.

Many students have taken to social media to describe how they went outside to their vehicle and realized that something was moved, stolen or damaged.

Meche Leflore, a junior public relations student, has had her fair share of incidents on FAMU’s campus.

“I feel safe on campus for the most part,” said Leflore, “but I could feel safer, especially since someone has already broken into my care once.”

Students have said they would like to see the campus police department patrolling the south side of campus more to ensure their safety.

The residents are a top priority and they need more than just resident assistants, who are primarily their peers, to oversee them, according to students.

Stephen Brookes, a senior business administration student, was a former RA in Palmetto North.

“The south side of campus is extremely close to the lower income side of Tallahassee,” said Brookes “I don’t know why people don’t expect for it to be problems to occur, but it should definitely be looked into.”

Taking a deeper look into the environment, a student can attest that it does appear to be an easy target for freeloaders and thieves to make a move.

Breaking into students’ cars however, has been the most consistent thing for them to do.

As a result, students have been making sure to lock their car doors and double check the way they left their car.

It is safe to say, that these break-ins have caused a wakeup call for the residents in the dorms and they are taking all the precautions to preventing anything being stolen or damaged.

Rochard Moricette, the Student Government Association president, is a respected student and campus leader.

“I have not heard about the recent break-ins in the Palmetto apartments,” said Moricette, “but I will contact FAMU PD to discuss how they plan on ensuring that students’ safety in that area is a top priority and I suggest looking into the cameras and allocating more police resources on the south side of campus.”

FAMU PD did not respond to multiple attempts for a comment on break-ins in the area of FAMU residence halls.