Park your vehicle in a reserved space, and a police officer willhave written a ticket in a few minutes. Alert the SMU PD thatyou have been drugged and raped, however, and three days will passbefore anything is written.
The inaction of our police force following the alleged sexualassault on Nov. 22 is inexcusable and downright frightening. Between Saturday night, when the incident was reported, andTuesday evening, when fliers were finally posted around campus, howmany students left water bottles unattended in the library? How many students walked alone to the parking lot at night? The safety of countless Mustangs was jeopardized because thepolice absurdly neglected their primary responsibility.
The official response from the administration concerning thedelay is that insufficient evidence was available to determine if asexual assault had occurred.
Rape or not, an alert should have been posted immediately. Robin told the SMU PD that she lost consciousness in aparking lot (not from alcohol consumption) and awoke in severe painwith her pants down. Additional information isunnecessary.
From this account, the police should have quickly issued awarning to the student body that a rape had “allegedly”occurred. Even if the report is later invalidated, there isno harm in publishing an alert.
When a bomb threat is received by a school, all buildings inquestion are immediately evacuated. The police would notallow students to continue occupying a building while a three-daybomb search is undertaken.
Likewise, we should not remain at the mercy of a possible rapistwhile Parkland Hospital processes a rape kit.
Issuing such campus alerts is a somewhat routine procedure. Inthe past, they have been posted in response to car stereo robberiesand suspicious solicitors. Therefore, it is unfathomable thatthe SMU PD would hesitate to distribute an alert concerning agenuine threat to the well-being of our community.
Additionally, for serious occurrences, warnings printed oncolorful paper and taped to doors is insufficient. If theadministration can e-mail every student, faculty, and staff memberto explain each lowering of our flag, then they can e-mail studentswhen a rape is credibly reported.
The only person who acted properly in this disaster was Robin,the victim. We applaud her for having the courage andpresence of mind to contact the police. For the unfortunatefew that will someday experience such a nightmare, Robin has servedas a powerful role model.
