During the Christmas and New Year’s holidays when people all around were celebrating with family and friends, menacing students on the campus of Prairie View A&M University decided to take advantage of the times by breaking into rooms in Phases I, II, and III. “We have heard rumors that there were more rooms, but only three incidents were reported,” said Lt. David Webb of the Prairie View Campus Police Department, “We can’t investigate rumors unless those people come forth and present us with that information.”
Two victims and residents of Phase III who did come forth with information were Bobby Smith II and Krystal Blakemore. “This was the second time my room had been invaded in the past couple months,” said Smith. His was also ransacked during the annual State Fair Classic weekend.
Blakemore, whose room is located in the same building as Smith’s, was actually present when someone attempted to enter her room. “They came through my roommate’s window, but when they were in the living room I just ignored it and laid back down,” said Blakemore. “When they started banging on my door, I started to scream and they ran outside.” The intruder(s) left her roommate’s items in the living room after being startled by her presence.
“I still haven’t received any information on my stolen property,” said Smith. While Smith’s property is still missing, Blakemore’s on-campus apartment is still riddled by the effects of the break-in. “My roommate’s window still hasn’t been fixed and I still can’t sleep because of it. I even emailed the president of the university about the situation, but he just told me he was sorry and that he would forward the letter to the vice president who is over the police.”
The bulk of the students’ concern comes from the slow reaction to deal with the growing concern about the crime rate on campus. “Every time I call the police they tell me no one is available to be dispatched to the area,” said Smith, “I just feel like we will lose good students because they don’t feel safe.” Webb expressed that was exactly why Operation Lockdown was established. “We started the operation during the Thanksgiving break and pushed it through the majority of the Christmas holidays,” said Webb, “The set-up helped us screen all suspects who came on campus and allowed us to patrol heavily in the Phases.”
The operation was presented to the public through various area media outlets. Webb believes the operation has been successful because of the number of cases. “We used to have 18 or 19 break-ins during any given break, so for us to get the number down to so few meant we made progress,” said Webb.
Although progress was made, many students still feel unprotected and think it will take something drastic before things kick into code red. “It might take something huge followed by a lawsuit before they really get the picture,” said Blakemore.
As far as new developments, the Department of Public Safety feels they are heading in the right direction. The PV Campus Police Department is in the process of hiring five new officers. The officers will be used to help in the sub-stations, which the department plans on planting in the residential areas while other uniform officers will be used in and out of the MSC.
“Please, take your valuables home over the break and don’t show off your stuff to your so-called friends,” said Webb.