Over the last few weeks, public safety officials at Saint Joseph’s University have reported a spike in crime incidents near the campus. NBC10’s Shaira Arias reports.
For the last few weeks, some students at Saint Joseph's University have been on edge after receiving multiple campus alerts for incidents that have been happening near the school.
According to reports, the first incident happened on Feb. 23 when the Office of Public Safety and Security received two reports of attempted robberies from students around the Hawk Hill campus.
Then, on Sunday, March 16, officials were alerted of two indecent exposures.
Two days later, on March 18, a female student was reportedly robbed near 54th Street and Woodcrest Avenue.
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Then, just yesterday on March 20, a 21-year-old woman was walking home from school near Cardinal and Overbrook avenues when she was approached by an unknown man who punched her in the face, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
In three of the four incidents, the suspect was described as a man in his 20s.
Some students said they are alarmed by the number of crimes that have happened in just a matter of days.
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Others told NBC10 that they feel safe in and around campus still.
The university released a campus announcement that states they will provide campus patrol, escorts and transportation and encouraging everyone to remain calm and vigilant on and off campus.
NBC10 looked at police crime incidents, finding there wasn't a significant difference in incidents reported within a half mile of campus this year compared to last.
But, there has been an uptick in certain crimes reported.
For instance, so far this year, there have been 5 robberies with firearms while at this time last year, there was one.
At the same time, there were two aggravated assaults with firearms last year while there haven't been any reported so far this year.
All of the incidents from the last few weeks are under investigation.
