Campus police try to alert students about crimes on and near campus as soon as possible -- usually within 30 to 60 minutes after the crime has occurred. But their priority, and the priority of other local police agencies, is "catching the bad guys" and protecting the victim.

"We've got to stick with the immediate safety at the scene first," said Cornell University Police (CUP) Chief Kathy Zoner at a Nov. 19 forum in Robert Purcell Community Center on North Campus.

The discussion aimed to address community concerns about a recent spike in crime near campus, and when and to what degree CUP alerts the Cornell community to criminal activity. The panel included city of Ithaca Chief of Police Edward Vallely and the village of Cayuga Heights police department's Sgt. Jim Steinmetz.

The recently reported crimes took place in their jurisdictions. When criminal activity takes place outside of CUP's jurisdiction, the local police department informs CUP and often works them. CUP then sends out crime alerts to the campus through University Communications.

"Nobody is going to willfully withhold information. They [local police officials] are out there trying to find the bad guy, trying to make sure the threat is over," Zoner said.

Crime alerts are e-mailed to everyone with a Cornell e-mail address and are posted on the Safety Zone section of the CUInfo Web site and on the CUP site. Text messaging, which is part of the university's emergency notification system, is reserved for highly volatile situations with a high probability of threat. However, Zoner noted, only 46 percent of students have entered their contact information so they can be notified in an emergency. (To register, students can visit https://selfservice.adminapps.cornell.edu/studentcenter/. Select the links for Emergency Contact Info and Emergency Mass Notification.)

The CUP procedures comply with what is known as the Clery Act, a federal law that requires colleges and universities to make timely reports to the campus community on crimes considered to be an ongoing threat to students. However, the law does not require local police to report crimes to the university. Zoner pointed out that CUP has an excellent working relationship with local police agencies, which share information about crimes in jurisdictions affecting the campus.

In the past six weeks, CUP sent out four crime alerts; they involved a purse snatching, a robbery, an attempted robbery and a female student who was accosted -- all crimes of opportunity, Zoner said.

"If you don't provide people the opportunity to rip you off, generally you won't get ripped off. If you're out on the street, distracted, taking short-cuts through alleys, traveling alone, then you're more likely to be singled out," she said.

The police officers spent a good part of the hourlong conversation encouraging students to take proactive measure to protect themselves. "You are in a target-rich environment. You are here to learn, you've got the best toys, and when you have people who are less fortunate, they're going to look for the target-rich environment," Steinmetz said.

They also encouraged students to lock doors and windows before they leave for the holidays. "Most of these burglaries don't involve break-ins. They don't have to," Vallely said.

The police officers would not comment on the recent cases, which are still under investigation. However, they are optimistic that they will catch the perpetrators. "We're confident," Vallely said.