Around this time of the year is when we begin to see ghouls and goblins and everything else essential to celebrating Halloween.
But it seems this scary holiday has brought another spooky element to ASU: an outbreak of crime.
Recent crime alerts from the ASU Police Department tell ghostly tales of a string of iPhone robberies and bike thievery on the Tempe campus, as well as a wanted man who is allegedly involved in two “violent” crimes that occurred near the Downtown campus.
With all of the frightening things occurring around us, we could certainly use a superhero.
Granted, we’ll see plenty of big-screen saviors strutting the streets within the next couple of weeks as students begin flocking to costume parties — but, those weren’t the superheroes I had in mind. (But go ahead and rock that “Captain America” costume, anyway.)
I’m referring to an attentive vigilante who’ll watch over us and keep us safe from the danger that may be lurking at any given moment because the police can’t be patrolling everywhere at once.
In Washington, self-proclaimed superhero Phoenix Jones is just that.
No, he doesn’t have any super powers. He’s just a masked man in a super suit equipped with a baton and pepper spray who acts as a guardian of his city.
He patrols the streets of Seattle alongside his nine sidekicks as the leader of the Rain City Superhero Movement.
"I decided to make a difference and stop crime in my neighborhood," he said according to The Associated Press.
Jones said that he and his sidekicks all have either a mixed-martial arts or military training background.
“I am also Ben Fodor, a father and brother. I am just like everybody else. The only difference is that I try to stop crime," Jones said in a CNN article.
Although I’m not advocating the risk of going out and literally fighting crime around ASU, there are ways that we could all act heroically.
If you witness a crime, call 911 immediately or the ASU police at 480-965-3456 to report it. Stay alert and be prepared to describe the situation and suspects in full detail.
Don’t think that just because others are around, you won’t need to call it in by assuming someone else will — avoid the bystander effect. And you know those boxes with blue lights and buttons sporadically around campus? Use them (if there’s an emergency, of course). That’s what they’re there for.
The most important thing is to get help without endangering yourself. None of us have superpower strength, and, unfortunately we lack invincibility.
For more safety tips, visit cfo.asu.edu/police.
Share your superhero name with Ashley at alhaines@asu.edu.
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
