Grela, speaking at a South Campus meeting of the FSEC Nov. 29, said that in the weeks following the robbery and shooting of a UB student, as well as that of a Canisius College student, 10 additional Buffalo officers, including four working undercover, were assigned to the North Buffalo precincts most heavily populated by students. Also, he explained, South Campus Public Safety evening patrols were beefed up 50 percent with all leave other than sick leave being cancelled for Public Safety officers. Grela credits that increased coverage with leading to the swift arrests of suspects in those shootings.

Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Cliff Wilson said that UB and the City of Buffalo are closer to seeing eye to eye when it comes to crime problems in University Heights. "President Greiner has spoken with Mayor Masiello and insisted that the city do a better job in University Heights," explained Wilson.

Nevertheless, Grela cautioned FSEC members that crime in University Heights is not going away anytime soon. "Unfortunately, you have to prepare for more of the same over the next five years or so," Grela said. "I wish I could have better news than that, but that's the reality of it." Grela called the rash of robberies "crimes of opportunity" and said they could be combated by continuing to inform students of safety precautions they should observe, such as not walking alone after dark and avoiding the use of bank automated teller machines late at night.

Grela and Wilson agreed that a proposal now being considered by the state legislature to provide full police officer status to Public Safety officers would enable the university to do more itself in combating crime in that part of the city. Currently, campus-based officers have "peace officer" status, leaving them without jurisdiction and indemnification necessary to participate in law enforcement or criminal investigations beyond the confines of the campuses. "Our Public Safety department would like to be more helpful than it can be currently," explained Wilson.

On a brighter note, Grela pointed out that statistics gathered by local police agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation continue to show that UB is a relatively safe campus. UB ranked 20th lowest out of 27 AAU institutions surveyed for incidents of violent crime and 21st of 27 for property crimes in 1994. "Your odds of being a victim of a crime are approximately one in 52 on campus, one in 35 in the Town of Amherst, which was recently written up in law enforcement journals as one of the safest communities around, and one in 13 in the City of Buffalo," said Grela.

Several FSEC members questioned the number of signs posted on campus warning of campus security problems, fearing they might intimidate or discourage potential students visiting the campus. However, Grela explained that the federal Campus Security Act of 1991 requires prompt, extensive disclosure of known crime problems. Grela also replied that many students and parents have told him and his officers they were glad to see such a pro-active approach to crime on campus.

In addition to ongoing communication with students and the community, getting the Public Safety force back to its full complement would also contribute to deterring crime, Grela explained. Highly trained Public Safety officers are frequently recruited away by other police departments, including the City of Buffalo, that offer better pay and benefit packages, Grela said. He is currently in the process of filling six of the department's 50 posts.