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Campus safety walk addresses student concerns

Bradley University Police officers walked around campus and off-campus housing Monday, listening to students’ concerns about unsafe areas at Bradley.

Chief Brian Joschko and crime prevention officers Sean Savage and Shane Young worked with Amanda Fuller, Student Senate vice president of Campus Safety, to target areas around campus that need improved lighting, campus security, blue lights systems and other concerns.

The safety walk was organized in two groups: one focused on Fredonia Avenue and on-campus areas, the other on St. James complex and Main Street Commons. According to Fuller, they wanted to keep the groups smaller to help simulate the experience of a student feeling unsafe. Despite that, many students showed up to participate in the safety walk.

“I was really impressed with the turnout; we actually had to not allow as many people to come because a lot of people had some big concerns,” Savage said. “They wanted to get their voices out, and a lot of times that’s the biggest part … so it was great.”

Savage said he was able to better understand the locations in need of improvement after conducting the safety walk.

“I was expecting to hear a lot of concerns about lighting, which we got a lot of,” Savage said. “I was not aware of all the paths that the students frequent, so that was a big goal for [the] student safety walk was to identify places that our students are.”

According to both Fuller and Savage, the concerns raised will be met with action.

“We’re going to look at some of the ideas, some of the target areas that were identified, and see what can be done in a cost-effective manner to make our students feel more comfortable,” Savage said.

BUPD and Student Senate are planning more safety walks in the future, but until then, Fuller said students should take safety precautions while walking around campus at night.

“Walking alone can be dangerous,” Fuller said. “If you are walking alone, [don’t have] your music blaring through your headphones. You want to be looking around, making eye contact with people as you pass them even just to be friendly and smile, but you’re less likely to be attacked by someone if they know that you’ve seen their face.”

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