By Staff
One man was gunned down, a store clerk was robbed at knifepoint and a University student was almost abducted, all in the same week, all within walking distance from campus. These occurrences are not atypical of the neighborhood surrounding the University.
Situated between some of the most affluent places on Long Island, such as Garden City and Rockville Centre, Hempstead sticks out as an eye sore, an anomaly, brimming with low income housing, street gangs and criminal activity. Granted legislators and authorities working for the village of Hempstead and Nassau County have launched aggressive campaigns in recent years to make the community safer, it will probably come as no surprise to most readers that this area is still much more volatile than most places on Long Island.
What the majority of Long Islanders did not know about the Hempstead area until this week is that it is the second largest haven for registered sex offenders in Nassau County. According to the New York State Sex Offender Registry data, 27 document sex convicts currently reside in Hempstead. Most of these offenders are considered Level 2 or 3, which mean they are more likely to commit future offenses, according to experts.
While this figure may worry many students residing at the University, those that should be most concerned are students who live in off-campus housing within the Hempstead or Uniondale communities. Police protocol in both Nassau and Suffolk counties require officers to inform residents living within the vicinity of these criminals of their neighbors’ history, however, residents of Hempstead, as well as the village mayor, himself, told Newsday that they had no idea there were so many sex offenders in their midst. Students living in off-campus houses in Hempstead also confirmed that authorities never alerted them to this news.
At the University, it is easy for students to feel secure. Walk only a few feet, and you are sure to sight at least one of the following – a public safety officer, a resident safety representative or a “blue light.” Some students, especially residents, have even complained that the campus is too secure, forcing them to swipe their Hofstra cards to enter many facilities, and to struggle with automatic-locking doors. Glance through this week’s “Public Safety Briefs” and there are few serious crimes, and even those who attempt to execute petty infractions are usually caught in the act.
However, step outside the University’s gated community, and public safety can do little to protect you. “When not on University property, public safety officers have no authority beyond that of private citizens,” according to the 2006 Campus Safety Report.
On the University’s Web site, prospective students are told that, “Hofstra offers the opportunity to live and learn on our beautiful, 240-acre campus on Long Island.” However, as of August this year, at least 200 students who requested on-campus housing were waitlisted, so clearly there is not enough dormitories on campus to accommodate all of Hofstra’s student population. Many students therefore, chose to live off-campus, starting as early as sophomore year, mainly in Hempstead and Uniondale. Since these students have relatively low incomes, they are more than likely to gravitate toward low income housing, which also happens to be a key feature of all the communities in Long Island where clusters of registered sex offenders were found.
Unlike most American colleges, the University is not located in an isolated, rural area. While the campus itself is its own entity, it is certainly not an island, but is very much a part of its surrounding neighborhoods. Students can only spend so much time in the Student Center, or in their dorm rooms. They begin to gravitate toward the bars, the stores, the jobs and the housing beyond the University’s borders.
Moving off-campus, probably only a few blocks away may not seem like a drastic change to most students. They are probably too focused on the independence they will gain from not being under the watchful eye of Residential Life to realize how vulnerable they have become. Last spring, a group of male University students learned this the hard way when masked men entered their off-campus home in Hempstead, held them at gu point and stole many of their possessions. Another incident occurred in Uniondale two years ago, when a female University student was snatched outside her home while moving in, raped and left in a nearby parking lot. Her attacker was only convicted last fall and is currently serving time.
This semester, Public Safety issued three public notices throughout the University, informing students of three separate incidences that occurred near campus where students were approached and either harassed, assaulted or robbed. One girl was even threatened at gun point and told by her attacker to get into the backseat of his car, however, she was able to escape. Students, residents and commuters alike, need to realize that while the University may keep a close watch on their activities while on campus, outside Public Safety’s scope of power, they need to be on their guard.
Right around this time every year, as Halloween approaches, it is customary for authorities to publish numerous public warnings about how to trick or treat and stay safe, such as steering clear of unwrapped candy, sticking in groups of two or more and never getting inside any stranger’s car or home, no matter what goodies they promise are waiting inside. Well, these tricks only work on kids, right? Wrong.
In order to stay safe as you venture out this weekend, and any other day, there are many precautions you can take to ensure you return home safe and sound.
While you may not be tempted by candy, now that you are adults, there’s a new way that rapists and abductors lure their prey – alcohol. Just as your mom sifted through the suspicious-looking treats before allowing you to pig out, apply this same level of scrutiny when you are at the bar. If you put down your drink at any point, consider it no longer yours. While shelling out another $5 for a mixed drink may seem like a pain, it’s money well spent. Even the most wholesome-looking person could easily have less wholesome intentions and because most date rape pills are difficult to detect, you may not discover this until the next morning, when it is too late.
As for the buddy rule, you never outgrow that. Even though the walk from Dizzy Lizzard to the Netherlands may seem like a hop, skip and a jump, during that entire five minute stroll, you are completely vulnerable to attack even you are by yourself, even more so if you are even slightly inebriated. The female University student who was able to fight off her attacker last week was extremely lucky, but when it comes to your life, do you really want to roll the dice.
It should be pointed out, though, that this aforementioned student made a very smart and brave move when her attacker pointed his gun at her and ordered her to get into the car. She ran the other way.
No matter what the immediate threat is, a gun, a knife or fist, never get in the car. Any police officer or expert on this matter would agree that the worst thing you can do if placed in this situation is to allow your attacker to take you to a second location. That location will probably be some place less familiar to you and less public, making it more difficult for you to scream for help. There is also a greater chance that you will not escape the situation alive if you surrender all power to the attacker, which is exactly what you are doing the second you get into the backseat.
As for the University, currently construction of a new dorm complex is underway, which could lead to less students living off-campus, but that will do little to abolish the threats students encounter in the Hempstead area. Last year, the Student Government Association toyed with the idea of having the Blue Beetle, Hofstra’s bus service, make trips to and from the bars near campus, to diminish the number of students walking the streets at night. It would be interesting to see this plan come to fruition. Meanwhile, students must be vigilant, cautious and prepared to make intelligent decisions to avoid or respond in threatening situations. Have fun, but be safe, and don’t let down your guard, not even for a minute. That moment of carelessness, that one time that you justify walking home alone or shrug off that feeling that the decision you are about to make is not wise, are what you read about in the papers every single day. Don’t be tomorrow’s tragic headline.