quetzalcoatl

Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 5:47 p.m.

This is no ordinary, decent criminal. This guy is nuts. The number of cops around probably never entered his mind.

John A2

Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 5:03 p.m.

It's not the cops who were on duty, but the perpetrators hear there are less cops and take advantage of that. We are not the only ones who can read and it was heavily publicized that A2 police force has been reduced and that means that there are less police per capita than before they were cut. That means less chance to be caught and more chance to get away and do it again.

OLDTIMER3

Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 3:52 p.m.

All women should take a self defense class or a CCpermit. They shoudn't have to but if they want to be safe they would. Police are only minutes away when seconds count!

nixon41

Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2:37 p.m.

MikeD. You have no clue. Why don't you become a Police Officer & find out what it's really like?

OLDTIMER3

Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 11:05 a.m.

@ Mike D. You must be a student or someone who doesn't pay any property taxes to be making such a stupid comment about not being taxed enough to support a decent police force. If they could somehow tax by a head count instead of just property owners they would have enough money to have a whole different city.

Scott

Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 4:37 a.m.

OK, so let's put the speculation aside and ask for the data. The AAPD and the city know exactly how many patrol cars were on the street between 11pm and 2am. Has anyone asked for that information? Sure, maybe more cops wouldn't have done any good. Who knows. But does the number out there feel right for a weekend night? A city this size... What would we expect, 15 cops? 20? I would think that there would be enough to handle a large our of hand situation (while also having some free to respond to other emergencies). AnnArbor.com, will the city give you this I formation? It would be good to hear so that we can assess whether we feel comfortable with that number or not. Also, during that time, how many officers were busy with other things? Where they really doing mostly traffic stops? How many traffic stops occurred during that time? Minor or serious infractions? What other activities were going on? How many cars were off the road doing paperwork? How many were on the lunch break? What was the response time once the calls came in? This set of incidents would be an excellent opportunity to do a detailed breakdown of activity level at the aapd with their current staffing. Especially since it is a summer evening. It should show that there were plenty of officers on the street because they have to be able to also handle things in the winter when the students return. What do you say? Could we get that article?

John A2

Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 3:42 a.m.

The extra cops are gone, so sad to see them go. Now we are just another safe haven for criminals. This is just a beginning for more to come. Get a grip and sit down, criminals don't care about your rights, and you can bet they don't care about themselves either. We invited them here with all the wealthy people here and no money out there. e take cops off the street and what do you get is more of this. Good Luck trying to tell the perpetrators about your rights.

UlyssesSwrong

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 11:29 p.m.

I think we all know that women are especially vulnerable to attacks. Generally they're weaker physically and can't defend themselves from men, and are targeted by men for sexual reasons, not to mention potential robbery and even kidnapping. Being in the dark, late at night (when there are less people outside who could help), and alone simply makes them more vulnerable. Those last three aspects could apply to any of us, regardless of our gender. We love our city but never take your safety for granted. It would seem to many that Ann Arbor is more safe than most other populated towns, but you should always be cautious when you're in vulnerable situations like these women were in. Were these women at fault simply for being there? I would not say so. Most people in general feel completely safe at night in Ann Arbor. I would feel safe as a man if I were in that area. Unfortunately, this is completely different when you're a woman and it's a sad reality of life that people prey on vulnerable targets. So before my gun carry supporting, ammo packing comrades write that she should be packing heat for situations like these, let's not forget that you should be cautious in the dark when you're alone in unpopulated areas.

Macabre Sunset

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 7:45 p.m.

I am sure that if you asked a fundamentalist Muslim why women need to wear burqas all the time, the answer would be that they need protection from society and from their deity. How 'bout, instead, we simply impose a life sentence on those who commit unprovoked violence on a stranger?

tim

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 6:09 p.m.

I'm not accusing anyone ( who know who this guy was), but the more Ann Arbor attracts seedy people the more crime your going to see. Be safe not nice

a2phiggy

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 5:54 p.m.

I can not believe the tone of these comments. My heart goes out to these women - I pray they get the support they need from people who understand that sexual assault is never, ever their fault. For those of you directly or indirectly blaming the victims, shame on you.

cibachrome

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 5:02 p.m.

I don't see how adding more police patrols would help this situation. The criminals would just go to other areas (for which there are plenty of opportunistic locations). All I would expect is an increase in the number of police harassment complaints. Maybe it's time for another N.O.W. "Take Back the Night" march (which they do in the safety of daylight BTW, wuwt?). No solution to this until someone is caught, restrained, arrested, charged, prosecuted, jailed and reprogrammed. Otherwise, women walking in Ann Arbor are just wildebeasts in the proximity of lions.

Mike D.

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 4:37 p.m.

Two women suffered harrowing experiences and all people can do is blame them? Disgusting. Sometimes you have to walk somewhere alone, and it doesn't make you stupid or lacking common sense. If there's blame to be passed around, it's on spineless politicians for not having the courage to tax at a level necessary to fund a real police department, and on the AAPD, who refuses to stop writing traffic tickets for 25 seconds to investigate actual crimes, both of which foster a get-away-with-it culture in Ann Arbor that attracts criminals from near and far. As long as you don't speed on your way to committing the crime, you can get away with murder here.

psaume23

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 3:41 p.m.

During the hours of 10:00 pm to 2:00 am, AAPD should deploy its officers on foot or bike patrol in the downtown area where people are walking home. They should be able to identify the "hot spots" of crime such as that described in the article, and cruising around in squad cars is not as effective to react to crime or as a deterrent to criminals as having an uniformed officer visibly patrolling on the streets. Also, video cameras should be utilized throughout the downtown area and monitored at dispatch.

TrappedinMI

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 3:01 p.m.

Okay, not sure if my comment posted. If this is a repeat, please delete a2.com. The description/M.O. of the attacker sounds similar to the attacks on/near S. Main St. Did we get the right perp???

lester88

Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 1:46 p.m.

"Rapundalo said despite the cuts, the number of officers on patrol hasn't gone down and residents should feel secure that city officials are looking out for their safety." There was a time when these predators would have been caught.