Editorial: Beating, gropings beg UNM security review

The recent on-campus beating of a University of New Mexico faculty member and allegations of a slow response by UNM police should lead to a serious review of campus security.

Last month, an associate professor was attacked by a drunken man she and a student were trying to help. Although the woman faculty member didn’t want to comment on the incident, the graduate student who was with her came forward with details — and accusations that the assault might have been prevented if police had responded more quickly.

According to the student: she and the professor came across the man (not a student) yelling incoherently and lying on the ground near a building they were leaving. The professor called campus police and after a few minutes with no response sent the student to police headquarters for help. The student asked for someone to accompany her back but no one did. She said she was told someone had been dispatched. After she got back to the scene, the situation took a violent turn — the man got up and charged the professor. Another person called police again. When police arrived, an officer found the man on top of the professor beating her in the face and head with a closed fist.

UNM police say their response was as fast as possible, noting they caught the assailant in the act after the second call.

The beating follows two other reports of female students being groped on campus by unknown assailants. UNM responded by sending a campus-wide warning via text and email, encouraged students to use its escort service and said it would increase patrols through the use of a private security contractor.

Keep in mind that UNM is an urban campus and anyone can easily come on to the campus and mingle with students and faculty.

However these disturbing incidents raise questions about safety policies and strategies, including whether campus police handled the beating incident correctly and whether there is adequate manpower on campus to protect students, faculty and visitors.

UNM should do a thorough investigation and report its findings to the university community.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.