Mercer Police

New mobile app allows students to contact police instantly

Smartphone app puts users in touch with campus, city police

By:
Published Apr 13, in Breaking, Campus, City, Crime, News

Mercer students can now whip out their smart phones and keep in constant contact with campus and city police.

A new web-based app for mobile phones announced recently by the InTown Macon Neighborhood Association and Mercer Police allows students to contact Mercer Police and the Macon Police Department directly.

Ted Goshorn, vice president and president-elect for InTown Macon, said the idea for a mobile safety website came from a conversation with the board about wanting to increase response time for residents who observe criminal or suspicious activity.

This mobile application will work on all smartphones. Students visit the website and save the application to the home screen instead of downloading it from a wireless provider or Apple’s iTunes Store.

InTown Macon is encouraging all smartphone users to utilize the site because it is free and functions like an app.

Students have the option of calling Mercer Police, the non-emergency number for Macon Police or Judy Gordon, the Neighborhood Watch Coordinator.

“All you do is touch the app and it calls. We are hoping this will increase response rates,” Goshorn said.

To install the app, students can visit http://m.intownmacon.org and save the mobile website to the phone’s home screen.

This will add the application to the student’s phone. The app will then be denoted by the InTown Macon logo.

“Macon Police [are] really big on calling the non-emergency number any time a person sees suspicious activity,” Goshorn said.

Mercer students are encouraged to call Mercer Police if they see anything suspicious happening in the vicinity of campus, but this mobile website allows students, faculty and staff the option of calling either the Macon Police or Neighborhood Watch to report activity off-campus without having to call 9-11.

“We know that a lot of Mercer students have problems with their cars getting broken into, so if the opportunity is not there, the crime won’t happen. Students can now report things through this app,” Goshorn said.

InTown Macon hopes that the application will be beneficial to off-campus students as well as those living on campus.

Goshorn said that incidents of cars getting broken into recently occurred on several streets near the law school.

The break-ins were reported and Macon PD put police officers on top of the Massee apartment building with night vision goggles. The officers were able to apprehend three suspects that night and the problem stopped.

“Reporting to the non-emergency number is really valuable,” Goshorn said.

The launch of this mobile website was decided at a March board meeting of InTown Macon.

Gary Collins, Chief of Mercer Police, said that his department received a request to participate in the mobile website’s launch, and that they agreed.

Goshorn said the mobile website can be very beneficial.

“If students choose to make use of this, the increased amount of information flowing to the police departments can help. Awareness can only help.”

InTown Macon was established in 1974. The committee’s goal is to protect and improve the quality of life for Macon residents.

For more information or questions regarding the mobile website, students can contact InTown Macon at intownmacon@gmail.com.

Welcome to the “Danger Zone”

New crosswalks make students and faculty feel unsafe crossing the street

By:
Published Mar 30, in Breaking, Campus, City, News

The newly installed raised crosswalks in Mercer Village still pose a danger to students despite being updated to elevate campus safety. These safety measures have not helped because problems still exist, if not more than before.

A little more than a month ago, the improved crosswalks were installed in Mercer Village as a way to slowtraffic in the area. Unfortunately, the problem still continues.

The main stretch of Mercer Village, also referred by students, faculty and employers as “the danger zone,” has seen a tremendous amount of reckless driving throughout the last six months. The highly congested area is also a hot spot for speeding and inattentive driving.

One motor vehicle law in the state of Georgia states that motorists are mandated to yield to pedestrians using a crosswalk. Students at Mercer have discussed their frustration with the confusion of not knowing the proper protocol of the crosswalk.

Junior Jordyn Stearns discussed her puzzling encounter with the crosswalk and a pedestrian.

“I almost accidentally hit someone the other day trying to cross the street,” Stearns said. “I came up to the crosswalk in my car and I waved at the pedestrian, but then the pedestrian waved back at me. I went to go but then they walked out at the same time. It was awkward and no one knew what was going on.”

Employers of Mercer Village have also seen an increase of hasty driving since the new speed bumps were installed.

Junior Lauren Light described some of the attention-grabbing driving incidents she witnessed while working at Jittery Joe’s.

“Working at Jittery Joe’s, you get to see all of the cars just completely fly over the speed bumps,” Light said. “A lot of them end up bottoming out and sparks fly everywhere.”

Light also discussed one occasion where the damage was so bad that Mercer Police had to arrive at the scene.

“One morning I came into work and there were three Mercer Police officers parked by Jittery Joe’s. I thought we had been robbed. Some lady had completely ruined her car on one of the speed bumps and it looked like her tires had also blown out.”

Students, faculty and employers are worried that the increase of reckless driving will continue to grow, especially because the area is becoming more congested.

Senior Kayleigh Irby voiced her concern by saying that she thinks the people going too fast through the area should given more blame.

“I think that the biggest help would be for students who drive through the area to realize the safety issue concerning pedestrians and drive accordingly,” Irby said. “I think Mercer has implemented safety devices but the school can only do so much. Drivers need to be aware that this will be a highly populated area, and safety starts with the driver first.”

Irby also stated that the number of safety devices wouldn’t make a difference unless reckless drivers took initiative.

“It doesn’t matter how many crosswalks or other related devices you put in if drivers aren’t careful; it’s not going to make a difference,” Irby said.

Mercer Police department encourages all students to slow down through the area in order to prevent accidents from occurring.

Police beat roundup: Jan.-Feb.

By:
Published Mar 16, in Campus, Crime, News

Mercer Police received a total of 14 emergency calls during the months of January, February.

Jan. 31: A student reported her vehicle was missing. The car turned out to be stolen. Macon Police recovered the car at a local apartment complex. The ignition was damaged and several items were missing from the vehicle.

Feb. 3: A student reported his vehicle had been entered illegally and his iPod stolen.

Feb. 5: Officers responded to a domestic dispute.

Feb. 8: Officers received a report of a suspected marijuana smell in a dorm room. Investigation found several articles of drug paraphernalia.

Feb. 12: A student reported a baseball had damaged her vehicle window.

Feb. 13: Officers responded to a call involving a student who had been hit by another student on the Asylum trolley.

Feb. 14: Officers answered a call regarding a broken window in a new building. An investigation revealed underage drinking had taken place.  Further investigation revealed who allegedly threw the object that broke the window.

Feb. 14: Officers answered an alarm and determined a balloon had floated past the sensors and set it off.

Feb. 18: A student reported her car tag/license plate had been stolen.

Feb. 18: Miss Molly the trolley caught fire on Stadium Drive near the Hilton Hotel.

Feb. 22: A student reported a leg brace was stolen from the hall outside his room. He had left it there to dry.

Feb. 22: A student was seen directing a laser toward the sky. The laser was confiscated. The FAA has reported in the past of compromised air safety and damage to pilots’ eyesight from lasers used in similar fashion.

Feb. 23: A smoke detector in one of the buildings being constructed was activated by drywall dust in the air.

Feb. 26: A student reported she either lost her laptop or someone stole it. It was later found by another student who returned it to Mercer Police. Officers then returned it to the student who reported it missing.

To report a crime or incident, call Mercer Police at 478-301-4357 (HELP)

Police find no evidence for alleged assault, robbery of student on campus

Investigation concludes no crime likely took place outside of MEP residence hall

By:
Published Mar 16, in Breaking, Campus, Crime, News

Police have found no evidence for the alleged assault of a student on campus that prompted a University-wide safety alert to be sent out in December.

An investigation and video analysis into the event has concluded that the male student who claimed he was hit in the face and robbed by a man in front of Mary Erin Porter hall on Dec. 9 was not speaking accurately to Mercer Police when he made his allegations.

“We trust students above all else, and we want them to trust us. If you came in and told us you got robbed, we’re going to go with it until we find otherwise.” -Gary Collins, Chief of Mercer Police

Officer Mike Kondorf with the Mercer Police Department said video surveillance tapes show no record of the incident taking place, and none of the witnesses on the scene at the time recalled seeing any disturbances.

The student initially claimed he chased the perpetrator down Montpelier Avenue past Mercer Village around 3:45 p.m., then later changed his story to say he ran through the quad, Kondorf said.

The student also offered conflicting accounts as to whether his wallet was forcibly stolen from his pocket or picked up off the ground, as well as whether he was hit in the face or shoved. No visible injuries were sustained, Kondorf said.

“Given the time of day that the incident supposedly occurred, the conflicting stories from the victim, the lack of video evidence and the fact that no witnesses on the scene saw anything happening, we’re led to believe that the incident likely did not happen,” Kondorf said.

Kondorf said the student’s father contacted Mercer Police shortly after the incident, and that the student did not return to campus after the winter break.

Mercer Police Chief Gary Collins said that while the student may have been confused or dishonest about what actually happened, police were correct in sending out a safety alert via e-mail and text messaging based upon the information they had at the time.

“We trust students above all else, and we want them to trust us. If you came in and told us you got robbed, we’re going to go with it until we find otherwise,” Collins said. “We can always correct the alerts later, but it’s better to send them out and be wrong than to not send them out at all and risk other students being in danger.”

The safety alert is one of two such alerts that have been sent out by Mercer Police this academic year.

The other alert was sent out in January after a student was allegedly robbed at gunpoint off Mercer University Drive near the Hilton Garden Inn.

Please notify Mercer Police at 301-HELP (4357) whenever you see any people acting suspicious- ly on campus.

Mercer campus safe despite recent rise in crime

By:
Published Feb 23, in News

 

“We all strive for the same thing. We want to keep you safe while you are learning,” said Mercer Police Chief Gary Collins. 

With the recent rise in crime on campus, Mercer police are giving students advice on how to exercise safety on and off campus.

In recent months, Mercer police have seen an escalation in property crimes and one robbery. 

“Our students have a bad habit of leaving stuff just sitting out, and when they return it’s gone. If they see it, people will go after it,” Collins said. He further stresses to the students that with their new freedom comes more responsibility.

Chief Collins and his officers have increased patrol in the areas where these incidents have occurred, further taking measures to ensure students’ safety. 

Mercer Police have included 24-7 patrol in the College Corridor and offer to drive students anywhere on campus.

“When something happens at Mercer, it seems like a big uprising in crime. We’ve been very fortunate that we don’t have much crime,” Collins said.

Collins attributes this prevention to his 15-man task force, faculty, staff and students cooperating in reporting suspicious behavior. Collins stresses the key element of safety is to be aware of your surroundings. 

“Try to prevent yourself from becoming a target. Know where you are. Know your surroundings. Go to well-lit areas. There are some areas that even I wouldn’t want to walk into at night,” Collins said. 

Report any incident or suspicious behavior immediately after it occurs. In areas on campus that are not well lit, Collins suggests walking in groups.

If someone were to approach you, try to get a detailed description of that person. Do not act like you are afraid or nervous and look the person in the eye. 

“Don’t fight with them. Let us do that. Give them what they want; your life is more important than any property you may have on you,” said Collins. Most importantly, be aware of who is around you. 

In regards to lighting, Mercer police is working with the Student Government Association to improve lighting in areas, such as parking lots, on campus for students studying late at night. 

To minimize unwanted foot traffic, officers frequently check identification. 

“Sometimes students will get upset because they’re stopped and asked for identification. But, if we see people, we do stop them and try to find out why they are here,” Collins said.

Chief Collins encourages his officers to evoke not only a presence as enforcers, but one of friendship as well. 

“I want them interacting with the students. We are your allies, and if you have questions don’t hesitate to ask.”

On a scale of one to 10, Chief Collins rates Mercer’s safety at nine. 

“I think Mercer is a very safe campus. In no way do I mean to imply that nothing ever happens; incidents are going to occur,” Collins said.

Mercer Police emphasizes that the combined efforts of everyone working together—students, faculty, staff and police department—will minimize the number of occurrences.

Police beat roundup

Mercer Police resolved a total of 16 incidents on campus during the months of December, January.

By:
Published Feb 9, in News

Mercer Police resolved a total of 16 incidents on campus during the months of December and January.

Dec. 8: An officer on patrol noticed a car which had driven up on a median and damaged its tires.  The officer investigated and found the driver appeared to be intoxicated.  Signs of intoxication included red eyes, slow speech, and he had urinated on himself.  The driver refused to take an breathalyzer test and was arrested and transported to the Bibb County LEC.

Dec. 9: A student reported he was knocked down and his wallet was stolen from behind MEP.  The student chased his assailant for quite a distance.  The thief dropped the wallet but took money and an ATM card.

Dec. 11: A student reported he was chased by a man he encountered while walking on College Street inside the campus.

Dec. 15: A student reported her car appeared to have been entered without her knowledge.  Her key would not fit the ignition but there was no sign of damage.  Another student’s Bearcard was found in the car.  An inquiry revealed the Bearcard had been lost the previous spring.  The owner of the car and the owner of the Bearcard did not know each other.

Dec. 28: A woman went into Ingleside Village Pizza and when she returned to her car, she saw a man jump out.  He left four screwdrivers in the car.  One of these was in the ignition.  After jumping out of the car, the man ran across I-75.

Jan. 3: Officers responded to a call about an owl in the middle of a street rather than in a tree where owls normally are.  The Dept. of Natural Resources provided the name of someone who came and rescued the wayward owl.

Jan. 11: An employee reported someone stole her food from the refrigerator: two snack cakes and a small sign.

Jan. 11: A student reported hearing a noise from the roof above her room.  It was reported to have sounded like ice sliding off the roof.

Jan. 17: A student reported her vehicle had been broken into while parked at one of the apartment lots.

Jan. 19: A student reported receiving several harassing phones believed to be from an old boyfriend.

Jan. 20: A student reported he was robbed at gunpoint near the three-way intersection on Stadium Drive and Mercer University Drive.

Jan. 21: A student reported receiving obscene notes.

Jan. 30: A report of a broken window was received at Mercer Police.  Inquiry revealed that the baseball team was practicing and someone had hit the ball through the window.

Jan. 30: Mercer Police received a call about two people asking for rides outside the RLC.  When the officers responded they learned the people had a van that was low on gas.  They wanted a ride to get some gas.   Continued discussion revealed the men were drinking and neither one had a valid license or insurance.  One said he was from Mississippi but did not have a license.  The other had an expired license from Virginia.  Because the officers smelled alcohol on the breath of the man driving the van, breathalyzer test was administered and the man registered over the limit for intoxication.  He was arrested and delivered to the Bibb Count LEC.  The other man was driven to his home by an officer.  Both men were given Criminal Trespass Warnings.

Jan. 31: Officers responded to a call about two men looking into a car parked on campus.  The men turned out to be repo men and needed to take possession of the car.

To report a crime, call Mercer Police at 478-301-HELP (4357).