A State University of New York Upstate Medical University employee was robbed at gunpoint at 8 p.m. Tuesday on the sidewalk between the VA Medical Center and Toomey Abbott Towers, a path frequented by students living in the Brewster/Boland Complex.

Three males, one of whom carried a handgun, confronted the SUNY employee and took his briefcase and wallet, according to a Campus Hot News e-mail sent Wednesday evening.

The crime is one in a string of six other robberies in and around the university area in the past 40 days. No suspects have been apprehended in any of the cases, said Capt. Grant Williams of the Department of Public Safety.

‘We are trying to be proactive in preventing these things,’ Williams said. ‘But as you can tell by the notices, they are kind of speculative and all over the place.’

Syracuse Police cannot say whether or not they think Tuesday’s robbery is connected to the others that have taken place, but it is something that they are investigating, said Sgt. Tom Connellan of Syracuse Police.

The spike in crime is not unusual at the beginning of the school year, Williams said, as many of the victims are on campus for the first time, and it can take them awhile to find a safe route home. The university area also provides a rich environment for crime, Connellan said, with lots of people and areas where people can become isolated.

‘Basically it’s a target of a rich environment with a lot of foot traffic,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, that means there is ample opportunity for people to take advantage of that.’

Public Safety and the Syracuse Police have increased the amount of units in and around the university area in response to the robberies, and are continuing to cover the area with undercover officers in unmarked cars.

‘Hopefully we can sit back and catch these guys in the act,’ Connellan said.

The undercover units help officers observe the university area without having people change their habits when they see the markings of a Public Safety or Syracuse Police car. The units also put more officers on the street, which can only help, Williams said.

‘There’s been a couple of people I’ve given safe passage to without them realizing it,’ Williams said, referring to his own patrols in an unmarked car.

The best way to prevent crime, however, is for students to be aware of their surroundings and know how to be safe. For instance, Williams suggested students walk in groups of at least three after dark.

Early in the school year Public Safety used the Campus Crime Watch program to inform as many students as possible living in residence halls how to be safe around campus, Williams said.

Michael Curtis, a freshman political science major said he tries to be careful when walking back to his room in Brewster Hall at night.

‘I’m always looking over my shoulder,’ he said.

Published on October 17, 2004 at 12:00 pm