The Department of Public Safety has increased security measures after several hate crimes occurred on and near the Syracuse University campus this past week.

DPS officers are doubling the department’s workforce and presence within the community by working 16-hour shifts, said Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for communications, in a statement to The Daily Orange. Officers usually work 10-hour shifts.

In the last nine days, three incidents of racist or bias-related graffiti were found in Day Hall. A swastika was found etched in a snowbank along Comstock Avenue, across from the 505 on Walnut apartment complex. Racist graffiti directed toward Asian people was also found in the Physics Building.

The measures are to ensure student safety and to help find the individuals responsible for “these despicable acts,” Scalese said.

DPS is “vigilantly and proactively” speaking with students to receive any information that could aid in finding the perpetrators, she said. Officers are also conducting more enhanced property checks.

Hours after the swastika was reported, a DPS officer was present at Jewish a capella group’s concert in the Physics Building.

The department enhanced its safety escort program to include both shuttles and walking escorts, Scalese said. In September, DPS added five trained, licensed and uniformed security guards as part of the escort program. The security guards — stationed along Euclid Avenue, Marshall Street and Walnut Park — are available to escort students from 10:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. from Thursday to Saturday.

Two shuttle vans were also added to the program. The vans, which are fully accessible and free to students with a university ID, operate from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. They don’t run along Centro bus routes during hours of operation.

Published on November 15, 2019 at 4:17 pm

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