The former TCF Bank office in the Holmes Student Center is being repurposed into a police substation, according to a March 20 NIU announcement.

Ian Tancun | Columnist

Opening a police substation in the Holmes Student Center seems like a good idea on paper; however, I’m not sure it will make much of an impact on campus.

Preventative measures aimed at reducing crimes committed on campus are always welcome. One only needs to look at the Campus Crime section in each issue of the Northern Star to see that there is never a shortage of crimes being committed on campus.

While I cannot say that I’ve ever personally felt unsafe on campus, I acknowledge that my time on campus is limited to attending classes and working during the day, which — based on the police reports typically listed on the Campus Crime page — is not usually when these criminal activities transpire.

Criminal damage to property and theft seem to be the most prevalent crimes committed on campus, according to the Campus Crime police reports listed in the March 20 issue of the Northern Star.

In looking at previous Campus Crime police reports, eight of the 23 incidents reported from Jan. 26 through Feb. 8 occurred in the residence halls, according to the March 9 issue of the Northern Star. That’s a little more than a third of all the incidents reported.

Also, based on the incidents listed in the referenced issues, the Recreation Center and the Campus Life Building seem to be frequent targets.

Instead of setting up shop in the Holmes Student Center, it might be prudent to instead focus on increasing police presence in the buildings where these incidents seem to be occurring most often. That might be a more useful and productive way to deter campus crime.

MacKenzie Meadows | Columnist

NIU is yet again wasting money on something that it does not need — another police station located in the Holmes Student Center. As of March 20, the NIU Police Department added a new substation in the old TCF Bank space even though a station already exists across the street near Health Services, according to a March 15 NIU Today update. Crime has been an issue on campus and in DeKalb, but most of the violence is happening off campus. Reports of shots fired on the 800 block of Edgebrook Drive caused a safety report to be sent out to students, according to a Feb. 20 Northern Star crime report. Incidences of meth and cocaine delivery occurred off-campus on W. Seventh St., according to a March 21 DeKalb Police report.

If NIU really wants to keep their students safe, if the university feels the need to spend more money on something that is not necessary, at least put the substation closer to where crime happens, and not in the hub of campus. It is a waste of money and a complete waste of resources. NIU needs to do a better job at spending our tuition money on things that are actually needed.

Faith Mellenthin | Columnist

Opening a new police substation in the Holmes Student Center is an unnecessary move. While it does bring more officers to the center of campus, the actual NIU Police Department building is not even a four-minute walk away.

I think it is beneficial to have only one office space so that people will never need to walk back and forth if they find themselves at the wrong office. The NIU Police building is easy to locate now; not to mention, there is nowhere for the policemen to park at the Student Center.

The new substation will be staffed by officers who aid in social events, according to a March 20 NIU announcement. This would be a good idea if all the contacts needed to host events were in this office; however, they are not, and it just adds an extra place to contact.