Safety Week at Eastern Michigan University kicked off Monday night with an event titled “Do Snitches Get Stitches?” Student Body President Desmond Miller hosted the event, which was an open dialogue about the stigma of snitching and the violent crime problem at EMU and in the city of Ypsilanti.
The event began with each audience-member sharing his or her opinions about when “snitching” is appropriate.
One student said to “leave it alone if it is not your place,” while others said sharing information with the police is important on a large-scale.
Miller also asked the audience if they felt comfortable sharing information with the police officers at EMU’s Department of Public Safety, and if they knew how to contact DPS.
Most students in attendance did not know how to contact DPS, and some did not even know the university had its own police department. Miller was disappointed by this and shared the phone number for DPS with the audience.
“I’m glad they had this program because I got a lot of important information,” senior and English literature major Sierra Lane said.
Miller also asked the audience to share suggestions about how to make EMU and the surrounding areas safer.
Many people suggested more lighting on and off campus, which the audience felt would deter some of the violent crimes that have occurred recently.
Lane suggested a way to educate and inform the student body about the resources available to them through DPS.
Senior Director of Student Relations Dinah Nasari helped Miller to run Monday night’s event. She felt it was important to have a forum about public safety after the wave of violent crimes that have plagued EMU students both on and off campus recently.
“It’s hard to get people to talk about this stuff,” Nasari said.
“If we reached even one person, it was a success.”
Miller felt the discussion at the event was productive but wished more students had attended.
“I’m glad people came out, but moving forward we may go straight to res halls with forums like this,” Miller said.
Miller said several of the suggestions regarding public safety were ones that he has heard repeated several times over the past year.
“A lot of people have suggested security cameras and lighting,” Miller said, “as well as a better dialogue between EMU and Ypsi.”
