There has not been a Clery release in 18 days, but that should not imply MU has become any safer.
In fact, only a small portion of the campus has been notified of our latest suspect, who has reportedly been sneaking into residents’ rooms in Lathrop and Jones halls.
Students living in Lathrop Hall have been notified by email that on Oct. 27, an unknown male entered two students’ rooms at about 4:15 a.m.
The suspect was seen standing near a student’s desk in a room on the fifth floor, according to emails from the hall coordinator. It has been reported this man fled the room when the resident appeared to be awake.
In the second instance, a student on the fourth floor realized a man was towering over her with arms spread apart, standing there as she slept. Again, the suspect left the room when the student woke up.
On Oct. 30, a Jones Hall resident noticed an unknown male trying to get into students’ rooms. After a confrontation, the student called a Residential Life staff member, who later worked with MU police to determine if the same male was involved with the reported Lathrop Hall episodes.
The descriptions of the male do seem to match. For confirmation and more details, camera footage has been viewed. Getting a glimpse of the suspect in the videos will be crucial to determining who this man is since all the incidents have occurred in the dark.
So, we have multiple incidents, multiple witnesses and hopefully some video footage, but no Clery releases and no arrests made? It scares me to think this man is still out there and that a majority of the student population is unaware.
Just last week, on Nov. 7, two unknown men walked into student rooms in Lathrop Hall without knocking. One of the men matched the description of the suspect described in the Jones Hall incident.
It is without question that the details of the stories are more than a coincidence. But knowing this information and Residential Life’s safety tips, sent out only to nearby residents, is not doing enough to keep the campus safe.
The exterior doors became permanently locked Nov. 8 at Lathrop Hall. They will remain locked 24 hours a day, making entry possible only with a student ID.
Sure, locking the door will help, but in a college as large as ours, it is unreasonable to assume we can control who’s entering our buildings.
Recently, the MU Police Department has been mocked for their Clery releases. Students found the release’s descriptive language to be humorous, thus earning the department no respect.
But I hope the department has not re-evaluated how important sending the releases are. The Clery Act requires MUPD to communicate crime on campus to students. Beside legal matters, the department also plays an important part in getting information on the whereabouts of suspects. Clery releases are meant to notify students of ongoing threats, and the reccurrence of this action should warrant a release.
If this matter was completely taken over by MUPD, then their Clery releases might speed up the investigation while making students more aware. Residential Life is handling the situation incorrectly.
But MUPD has successfully arrested other suspects from this year’s reports, so perhaps officers could fill all of us in about what is happening in our community.
