Dear Editor,
I take exception to your editorial page excluding Davis Square as a topic of interest for campus safety ("Safety alerts more noise than substance," April 12).
Davis Square is one of the most frequented off-campus locations for Tufts students and is the primary location served by the Tufts shuttle bus system. The Davis Square T station is, for many students, the only gateway to Boston, South Station and other destinations. I read the April 10 alert and was thankful that the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) is even aware of crime reports from the Davis T stop. Criticize the alert for vagueness if you must (in which case you should take issue with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Transit Police too), but any criticism of jurisdiction is off-base.
I have received a number of safety alerts over the past four years and I do not believe TUPD is misusing the system. With the possible exception of the April 1 alert, I do not remember any alert that was obviously frivolous at the time it was issued. And I have yet to see the flood of alerts that your editorial page fears will trivialize the safety alert system. Two emails in two weeks does not a trend make.
The editorial seems to decry a problem that has yet to happen. Yes, students should be vigilant about crime by virtue of going to an urban campus, and an occasional email reminder of that doesn't hurt. Shelve this editorial until a time when TUPD actually floods student inboxes with the daily crime logs of Medford and Somerville.
Sincerely,
Christopher Snyder
Class of 2011
