Video: Rao, police say armed robberies are “unacceptable”

 
President Michael Rao and VCU Police Chief John Venuti addressed the media today to speak about the two armed robberies and six total incidents that occurred Monday evening.
 
Produced by Tommy Lopez
 
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Ryan Murphy
News Editor 

UPDATE – 11:35 a.m.: Four students, one employee and one person not affiliated with VCU were victims of the string of 6 robbery-related crimes that occurred within an hour of one another last night on VCU’s Monroe Park campus, according to VCU Police Chief John Venuti. One victim made a statement but declined to make a police report.

Venuti said that the police are viewing this as an isolated incident and while he said he could not definitively confirm that the same suspect committed all of these crimes, he said it was “very possible.”

The police chief and VCU President Michael Rao reiterrated their utmost committment to safety at the university. The president called the spate of crimes “unacceptable” and said students should try to always be with another person, at any time, in case of incident.

“With 50,000 students, facluty and staff (at VCU), safety is everyone’s responsibility,” Rao said.

UPDATE – 9:05 a.m.: VCU President Michael Rao, in a statement to the University and Health System Communities at around 8:23 a.m. Tuesday morning, said that he would be meeting with Richmond’s Chief Administrative Officer and Police Chief during the day on Tuesday, and would be meeting with the mayor on Wednesday, in relation to the string of robbery-related crimes on and near campus Monday Night.

“I am very upset along with all of you that last night six robbery related crimes happened on or in the vicinity of the Monroe Park Campus,” Rao said in the statement. “What happened last night was untenable.”

The statement went on to say that Richmond Police are investigating five of the incidents and the VCU Police are investigating the one incident that occurred on VCU property, although which incident among the six that is reffering to is not clear at this time. Rao also emphasized VCU’s focus on safety and said that VCU is currently putting “unprecidented resources” toward ensuring the safety of the community, citing a large police force, increased patrols and “an improved security escort service.” According to CT reporting from our issue published on Oct. 4, crime is down at VCU overall, although numbers are slightly up. The disconnect comes from VCU including more agencies’ reports in their Annual Campus Security and Fire Report, including the Virginia State Police and Virginia’s Alcohol and Beverage Control for the first time in this year’s statistics.

VCU student Tiffany Granell voiced frustration on Twitter on Monday night over the tardiness of the VCU Security Escort service. According to her tweet, she waited 40 minutes for the escort service to arrive.

“After my third time calling them, and seeing a bunch of escorts pass me, [the driver] did share with me that it was a very busy night. I would imagine people were taking precautions because of all the crimes going on,” Granell said in an email.
 
To see the full story on Monday’s crimes click here.