Jamie Swanson does not feel safe walking in DeKalb at night.

After several students were robbed in the northwest area of town, some students feel less safe walking at night in the area, one being Swanson, a junior communication major.

“After reading about it every day, it seems like every day there is something new that happened,” she said.


Community reactions

First Ward Alderman Bertrand Simpson Jr. said the crime happening in the ward is unfortunate, but he doesn’t think there is a noticeable increase in crime.

“I don’t see any organized patterns that put people in the 1st Ward in danger,” Simpson said.

Simpson feels these crimes are largely crimes of opportunity.

“These kind of crimes can be solved by personal diligence,” he said. “It is a generally safe community, but you still need to be alert.”

Simpson said his alderman position acts as conduit between the community and the city and that he would be happy to hear from any concerned citizens on crime.

“There has to be a balance between more police presence and people feeling as though they aren’t being scrutinized,” he said.

DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen said students expressing a lack of safety is not unfounded, but he said DeKalb is still a safe community overall.

“If I was living in that section of town, with the number of robberies we’ve had, I would certainly be concerned; I would certainly start questioning how safe I am,” Feithen said.


Student reactions

Mark Olsen, a senior computer science major who lives near Ridge Road and Blackhawk Road, said the crimes seem to be getting closer and closer to his apartment.

“I don’t even walk places any more; we always designate a driver when me and my friends go out,” Olsen said. “We used to walk everywhere; now some of my friends don’t want to walk places.”

Some area residents aren’t as concerned by the recent string of robberies. Dan Melchin, a senior communication major who lives on Greenbrier Road, said he usually walks with someone or drives places anyway.

“I didn’t expect it when I first came here, but then I realized it was the same way on every college campus,” Melchin said.


APO’s efforts

Pat Kaiser, a senior marketing major, was the victim of a robbery on Sept. 23, west of the Greek Row area. He suffered a broken lateral, nose, orbital floor and had internal bleeding in one of his eyes. He also had numbness in the side of his face, which he was not sure would go away.

After Kaiser - the membership vice president for Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity - was robbed, APO held a crime awareness fundraiser Oct. 10 in the King Memorial Commons. The drive sought to spread crime awareness and also hoped to raise money to purchase security call boxes off campus in the area of town where the robberies occurred.

APO secretary Danielle Anderson said after Kaiser was attacked, the service fraternity was inspired to start the fundraiser.

“You never really focus on what’s going on until it happens to someone you know,” Anderson said.


The fundraiser generated $192 and APO will be trying to do more fundraisers in the future, she said. Anderson was unsure on the price of call boxes but said the fraternity is working with the DeKalb and NIU police departments to help spread crime awareness.

Crime prevention and enforcement

Lt. Gary Spangler of the DeKalb Police Department said basic safety precautions such as not walking alone and being aware of one’s surroundings can prevent someone from becoming a victim.

Spangler also advises against wearing headphones, which can impair awareness, while walking at night. He also advised to not display anything of value you may have, such as a cell phone or an iPod, as it can make you a target.

Feithen also said students should monitor their friends and/or family members if they begin to cause problems while in the city.

“If you’ve got a friend that is starting to act up, either get them out of there or straighten them out,” he said. “If you have friends or family that you can’t keep under control or that have a bend toward criminal activity, don’t invite them here.”

If the police experience problems with the tenants of an apartment who encourage criminal activity or who allow individuals that are committing criminal activity to stay with them, the landlords will be contacted and eviction will be encouraged, Feithen said.

“Renters need to be aware of the activity of the guests in their apartments and not invite someone to their town who is prone to criminal activity, because they could be drawn into a corrective action,” he said. “If students want a safe environment to go to school in, they need to help create that environment themselves. They need to help protect themselves and to make common sense decision on what they are going to allow to go on in their apartment.”

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