Category Archives: Security and Safety

Walter Kraft sent around an update along these lines and there was this in annarbor.com, “Police release update in death of EMU student Julia Niswender,” which basically was “the investigation continues.”  Here’s a quote:

Jacob McLaughlin, who has been designated as the Niswender family spokesperson, said the family is still waiting on answers.

“They’re angry and they’re frustrated,” he said.

However, the family understands police need time to conduct a proper investigation, according to McLaughlin, who added the public perception is that crimes get solved in an hour like on television procedurals.

It’s also perhaps good to remember that when Laura Dickinson was found dead in her dorm room in mid-December 2006, it wasn’t until late February 2007 when they arrested Orange Taylor. So the fact that this is going to take a while shouldn’t be that surprising.

It’s been pretty busy for me lately because of both life and work (and yes, in this case, those are two different things), so I haven’t had a chance to post here in the last few days. Of course, there isn’t too much new, either.

First, there’s “Friends, family remember EMU student Julia Niswender in candlelight vigil,” which is about just that, the candlelight vigil Friday night at the Lakehouse. Then there’s “Sister of Julia Niswender: I vow to live every day in memory of her,” which is mostly about Julia’s twin sister, Jennifer. It’s awful what this family is going through.

And then there’s “Police: Autopsy reveals no signs of trauma, but ‘foul play’ possible in EMU student’s death; campus beefs up security.” It sounds like there is something wrong which is why this case is being investigated in the first place. But there is also no “outward signs of trauma to the body,” which I assume is the reason why officials are being careful to use the term “homicide” as opposed to “murder.”

Anyway, a lot of the article also has to do with security on campus at EMU and the things that EMU has done to beef things up in light of this homicide or whatever the cause of death turns out to be. As a slight tangent: before all this happened, there was this article in annarbor.com, “Eastern Michigan University police to be equipped with Tasers,” about which I was going to make a “don’t taze me bro” joke, but that now seems probably not appropriate.

I understand why folks are concerned about their safety, especially in light of current events. But let’s all remember a couple of basic things:

• This didn’t happen on campus at EMU, and I am still wondering how come no one has done any interviews/investigation/whatever of Peninsular Place and the company that owns them. How come they haven’t issued some kind of statement? They advertise themselves as being a “safe” place where parents can send their kids with no worries.
• I haven’t lived in (or even been in, now that I think about it) a dorm in 25 or more years, but if they are anything now like they were then, yeah, it is probably not as safe as your typical “gated community” or upper-middle-class suburban neighborhood. You’ve got a lot of young people from a lot of different places involved in a lot of different things– alcohol, drugs, etc.– all living in close proximity. There were fights in the dorm that I lived in and I even found myself on the bad end of a fight like that as a sophomore (that’s a different story). And as far as I can gather, the only difference between this Peninsular Place place and an on-campus dorm is there is significantly less “supervision.”
• WEMU had a news story a day or so after this story broke where they interviewed students about safety on campus, and I believe the results were that everyone they talked to felt safe.  FWIW.
• I feel safe on campus and in my neighborhood– I live in the Normal Park area of Ypsilanti. I think Ypsi is like a lot of other towns in that crime seems to be focused in specific areas, and that generally doesn’t include campus or my neighborhood. It does include the area where Peninsular Place is located– more on the other side of the river, but still in that general area.
• That said, I wouldn’t want to sugar-coat things either. Back in 2004, I had a minivan stolen, and it was parked right in front of my house. The Normal Park Facebook page lists a variety of petty crimes and break-ins that happen, particularly in the summer. Even though I am within easy walking distance to Pray-Harrold, when I teach at night, I always drive because I don’t want to walk home at 10 pm. I am not all that crazy about walking around campus after dark either.
• But the fact is almost all college campus and college towns have at least some problems with crime, and a lot of campuses and colleges are much MUCH worse than around here. So anybody posting on annarbor.com or here or wherever who thinks that EMU is “dangerous” compared to U of M/Ann Arbor or MSU/East Lansing or Wayne State/downtown Detroit is self-delusional to point of potentially endangering themselves. I mean, if parents are putting their kids into U of M because they think it’s “safer” than EMU, that’s just wishful thinking.

Anyway, my hope when it comes to finding answers and justice in the Niswender case is that the police have been careful about giving up details because they don’t want to jeopardize the investigation rather than they have no clue. Hopefully we’ll hear more soon.

From annarbor.com comes “EMU community ask for answers following students’ death.” This is coverage of yesterday’s 4 pm safety forum in response to the murder of Julia Niswender. Here’s a passage that I think kind of sums things up:

When he spoke to AnnArbor.com Wednesday afternoon, [Ypsilanti police Detective Sgt. Thomas] Eberts said many questions had to go unanswered because police are protecting their investigation. He wouldn’t say if police found evidence of violence at the apartment when they arrived or what kind of evidence led police to believe a homicide took place.

Students at the meeting at EMU asked [EMU Police Chief Bob] Heighes if police have a suspect in mind, if the person who is believed to have killed Niswender was armed and dangerous. Heighes sounded apologetic as he was unable to answer.

“I don’t have any other details other than what I shared,” he said.

Heighes did pass along safety tips to students, asking them to not wear headphones while walking on campus, walk with a partner, call police if they see something suspicious and to call authorities if they get any unsolicited visitors. Many students expressed concern with the on-campus student escort service that allows students walking around late at night to have someone walking with them for safety.

It’s striking how different this response is compared to immediate reaction to the Laura Dickinson murder, which was almost exactly six years ago. I can understand why it’s frustrating to folks to not know what’s going on with this investigation and/or to be afraid that there’s a killer on the lose. But clearly, EMU is getting out in front of this to reassure and to do their best to comfort the community while at the same time not trying to screw up the investigation. That’s a far cry from flat-out lying to everyone like they did when Dickinson was killed in her dorm room, suggesting that there was “no foul play.”

What’s also obviously different is that this was not on campus and I don’t think there’s much EMU can do about what the apartment complexes around campus do (or don’t) about security or much of anything else. Which has to make me wonder: what sort of response have the folks who Peninsular Place apartments had to this? I haven’t read anything anywhere about this; I wonder if annarbor.com or some other “real news” source has contacted these people to get a statement?

On the one hand, Peninsular Place is just an apartment complex, so I’m not sure they have any more responsibility for security than any other apartment complex. I can’t recall another situation where the landlord was blamed for a crime, and I have no idea what sort of security (or not) exists at Peninsular Place.

On the other hand, this is not a normal apartment complex. I’ve never been in this place, but based on some of the reviews I’ve read and on the floor plans on the web site, these are basically dorm rooms.  There are three or four bedroom units where each bedroom has its own entrance and bathroom, and there’s another door (presumably lockable) to a common area with a kitchen. Plus they’re fully furnished. Plus as this page “Information for Parents” makes clear, Peninsular Place markets itself to parents as a place that is a lot like living on campus; for example, from their web site:

Give your student the lifestyle they want – Give yourself peace of mind

For many young adults, a productive college career can be the foundation for lifelong success. There will be no greater contributor to your student’s academic success than the environment in which they live. At an American Campus community, we offer best-in-class accommodations in an environment conducive to academic achievement and well-being.

And so forth. By the way, “American Campus” is a large and publicly traded corporation that has pseudo-dorms like this one all over the country,including Willow Tree apartments in Ann Arbor and complexes in East Lansing and Kalamazoo.

One last thing: there’s a good article in the Echo, “Friends, family in shock after EMU student’s death.” Among other things, there is some information here about a fund set up in Niswender’s name.