On Tuesday, SMU officials issued an electronic crime alert notifying students, faculty and staff that a student reportedly raped a woman earlier that day in the 3200 block of Rosedale Avenue.
The alert, put out less than 12 hours after the rape was reported, described the suspect as a white male with blond hair and blue eyes, about 23 years old, 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing about 190 pounds.

It marked the first time in three years that SMU provided a description of a student suspect in a sexual assault case and a much quicker turnaround time in issuing a crime alert, records show.
SMU students and campus security experts applauded the new approach.

“I feel safer because I can be on the lookout,” freshman accounting major Kira Parsons said.

Laura Buck, a junior majoring in human rights, said it is vital that SMU notify students about reported rapes as quickly as possible.

“It puts in people’s minds, ‘OK, I need to be careful.’ When you’re busy with everything else, it’s not a bad reminder,” she said.

Alison Kiss, executive director of Security on Campus, Inc., a nonprofit organization that has monitored campus crime for 25 years, says it is important to provide as much information as possible about the suspect.

“By choice, not using a description doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Research says perpetrators are serial perpetrators.”

On Monday, The Daily Campus reported SMU seldom provided descriptions of student suspects in previous rape cases. Over the past six years, at least 17 women told SMU Police a student sexually assaulted them but the university did not provide a description of the student suspect in 13 of those cases, according to crime alerts and crime logs.

SMU Police Chief Richard Shafer has said no description is necessary in an “acquaintance rape” because the victim and police know the identity of the alleged rapist.

However, officials chose to provide a description of the student suspect in Tuesday’s sexual assault case even though they acknowledged knowing his identity. SMU public affairs spokesman Kent Best said officials did so because they “believed it was in the best interest of the campus community as well as those in the nearby community.”

Officials issued Tuesday’s crime alert 11 hours after the rape was reported to University Park Police-considerably less time than in the past. Records for the most recent seven reported rapes show that SMU took from one to three days to issue a crime alert.

Best said several factors affect when SMU notifies the campus of a reported sexual assault.

“The alerts are issued as soon as all necessary information can be gathered,” he said.

Tuesday’s crime alert said the sexual assault reportedly took place in the 3200 block of Rosedale Avenue did not give the exact location.

Jana Barker, executive director of the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center, said providing the exact location may help other women avoid becoming a victim.

“I know if something like that was going on in my neighborhood, I would want to know,” she said. “Most of these men have raped, not just once, but up to six times before they are ever caught.”
Dana Lea, a senior who lives on Rosedale, agreed. “They should give you the exact location so that you know where this is going on,” she said.

Asked about this, Best said, “A street address, but not necessarily a specific location on a street, will be named.”

When a SMU student reported a sexual assault in years past, officials posted flyers on campus buildings and crime alerts on its website-but not its homepage. Best said the university began using e-mail alerts in 2011 for “immediate notification of the entire campus community -students, faculty and staff.”

Jackie Lowrey, a sophomore political science major, said e-mail alerts are more efficient than flyers on buildings because SMU students are more in tune with technology.

“When we’re on campus, it’s like we’re in a bubble,” she said. “People aren’t as aware that these things can happen, so they’re not as careful.”

Lea, who lives off-campus, wants SMU to be forthcoming with information about any student suspected of sexual assault.

“You should be aware of who these people are,” she said. “It can be anyone. It can be your non-shady-looking friend.”