Crime wave hits metro Atlanta campuses

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Despite a rash of armed robberies -- the latest on Monday night -- Georgia Tech students say they feel safe on campus.

It's the surrounding neighborhoods that have them nervous.

"We feel safe in our little bubble here," said freshman Hannah Olliff. But off-campus, said junior Laura Schulte, "It's a little sketchy."

Maintaining a secure environment is also proving a significant challenge for the other campuses bordering downtown Atlanta.

Earlier Monday, a Georgia State student was robbed at gunpoint as he returned to his dorm. Four nights earlier, Spelman College sophomore Jasmine Lynn was killed by a stray bullet while walking along the Clark Atlanta campus.

“The challenges that led to this incident are no different from the ones that have recently been recorded at Georgia Tech and Georgia State,” said CAU President Carlton E. Brown. “The matters we are addressing are similar to matters that many urban universities address."

Tech's been hit the hardest. Monday's armed robbery took place in the Home Park neighborhood in Midtown, where there have been more than a dozen attacks since Feb. 7.

Though the latest victim was not affiliated with the institute, most have been. The problem was magnified in the spring when five Tech students were robbed at gunpoint over a two-week period.

Authorities thought they had the situation under control after four arrests were made in conjunction with the muggings. On Aug. 9, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington noted there had been no attacks since the arrests.

A little more than three weeks later, three women were mugged at the intersection of Luckie and Hunnicutt streets just south of campus.

"The last Ga. Tech student robbery in the area was committed the last week of June 2009," said Atlanta Police spokesman Eric Schwartz, who acknowledged that crime is up slightly in the Home Park area.

Students, and their parents, have taken note.

"It's safe to say my parents are a lot more worried, especially after the Spelman murder," said Tech sophomore Naomi Benveniste.

Last year, she said, walking through Home Park to get to Atlantic Station was no big deal. Now, "We don't go walking outside the North Avenue compound."

James Fetig, Tech's associate vice president for communications and marketing, said the university has implemented a "very intense" police presence.

"We're at a point where we might need to do some more," he said.

Georgia State Police Chief Connie Sampson said her officers have increased patrols on "the periphery" of campus, such as the parking decks used by students. Last May, a GSU student was shot during a kidnapping.

"There's not a fence to the rest of downtown," Sampson said. "We're all mixed in."