On March 24, Campus Safety reported a strong arm robbery on Asbury Avenue between Gilpin Street and Williams Street. The victim has not reported any injuries and the suspect is believed to be a light-skinned male, approximately 25 years old according to a Campus Safety alert.
Before reporting the incident, however, Campus Safety accidentally sent a blank message through the DU Alert System.
The accidental blank message was related to the software program used to issue the alert, which is designed to send messages quickly.
“The dispatcher neglected to populate all fields,” said Sgt. James Johnston, Community Partnerships and Training Coordinator for Campus Safety, about the error, “He has received remedial training in the program.” Additionally, Johnston reported, all officers received a refresher on the particular issue that caused the error message.
“The Department of Campus Safety apologizes for the text message and email sent,” said Johnston, “It is our goal to send messages as quickly as possible.”
Additionally, Johnston cited confusion about the term “strong arm robbery,” which refers to a robbery without the use of a weapon. Some may have believed that “strong arm” is more dangerous than an armed robbery.
“In the future, we’re going to change how we report robberies,” said Johnston. After change in vocabulary, future weapon-less robberies will not be referred to as “strong arm.”
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