Time to make SSCC take responsibility

[SaintMichael]

Well, another year has started at SSCC. A new fall quarter means the return of students, staff and faculty to the Delridge neighborhood. It also means the return of the car prowlers and thieves who see the campus and street as a plum ripe for the picking. For years now there has been an ongoing problem at SSCC with car prowls and thefts. So much so that the campus won the dubious distinction of being the third worst place in the city to have your car stolen according to a Seattle PI report done in May 2007.

Despite this “honor” the administration of the campus maintains they are not responsible for helping to solve this problem. The cars are at the campus and on 16th Avenue because they belong to students, staff and faculty of the college. The college needs these people to come to work/class in order to function as intended ergo; they are the root cause of the crime problem in that area. Yet they do nothing at all to help solve the very problem they have helped create. Instead they pass the buck to the already overworked Seattle police and expect them to clean up the mess they have helped make.

I for one think it is high time this trend was stopped. Let’s face it folks; we live in the real world, and unfortunately one of the realities we have to live with is crime. I’m not happy with the fact cars get broken into or stolen on campus and the street in front of campus. I’m not happy that staff and students are being mugged on campus, or that there is a big problem with graffiti and drugs around the campus. But that is just something that happens around college campuses. I know that none of the people associated with SSCC want crime to happen there but it does. It is not a black mark against the campus simply because a car gets stolen or broken into. It only becomes a negative reflection on the campus when the administrators refuse to acknowledge the problems and deal with them. Like they are doing at SSCC. You were asked for help in getting a handle on the car theft/break in problem years ago and you ignored it. You have been told about the gangbangers running around campus tagging the walls and restrooms. Again it was ignored. You have been told time and again about the drug activity that goes on in the Arboretum. That too was ignored. Now you have the reputation of being a high crime campus and you STILL refuse to deal with the issues. It makes those of us who work and attend class on campus feel like you could care less about our safety because you refuse to take responsibility for helping to solve these issues. It makes stopping the car prowlers and thieves a whole lot harder when they know that even if they are seen breaking into a car, no one from campus is going to stop them and the police are an average of 7 – 10 minutes away after someone calls 911.

It also negatively impacts the people who live in the neighborhood and who support the campus because they are also victimized by the criminals who ply their trade in the area. The graffiti goes up on fences and walls they own, their cars are broken into and stolen along with the ones belonging to the students and staff and drug dealers walk the sidewalks in front of their homes, all because the campus is in the neighborhood. And you leave all of this mess up for SPD to deal with. This takes SPD officers away from other people who need help when your own campus officers are there and could be dealing with the problem themselves.

If the state can see fit to allow the universities to have their own police officers to address the crime problems their campuses help cause, why can’t the same thing be done at the community college level? Is the safety and peace of mind of the community college students somehow of less value than that of the students at the UW or WSU? Are the crimes committed at the universities more important than the ones committed at SSCC? Are the administrators at SSCC truly concerned with maintaining a safe place for people to work and learn or is it all a game to them? Are they content with merely putting scarecrows in security uniforms on campus to lull the students into a false sense of safety or are they willing to put their money where their mouth is and actually do something to address the crime they help create? I’m sure the neighborhood would appreciate the extra effort and I know for a fact the students and staff on campus would.

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[mellaw6565]

Why don’t you send this to the Dean or Pres. of SSCC? And a copy to the Seattle Times Editors?

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