More important matters

At a recent Princeton Borough Council meeting, Councilman Roger Martindell proclaimed that the Borough Police were among the most "underworked and overpaid" in the country. This statement came one day after the arrest of three Borough and Township residents in connection with 10 recent Borough break-ins, including ones that occurred on-campus. The three men in question are suspected members of the Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha, otherwise known as MS-13.

To the great fortune of all Princeton residents, the incidents in question only involved the theft of laptops, credit cards and jewelry. The possibilities remain far worse. MS-13 is notorious throughout the United States and Central America for its violent actions. These have included murdering witnesses who cooperated with federal prosecutors, and cutting off the fingers of rival gang members with machetes.

While it is less than likely that such an act of violence would be committed against a University student, the porous town-gown border demands that the threat of such violence be taken seriously. Princeton is much less safe due to the presence of MS-13, no matter what its members have done thus far. The Borough Police should fill the vacuum of work that Councilman Martindell pointed to by confronting the growing gang problem in Princeton and not the lesser evils of public urination and underage drinking by otherwise law-abiding students.

The Borough is considering hiring two more police officers to help the force perform its duties. Hiring two more officers will not dismantle MS-13. Indeed, the Borough Police must make the elimination of this kind of gang activity their highest priority. The University should earmark some of its "voluntary" annual contribution to the Borough specifically for this purpose. The University should also install more blue light phones around campus to discourage any possible crimes and help students in possible cases of emergency.

The Borough needs to focus on preserving the physical safety of its residents, rather than busting University students for drinking out of Dixie cups in public or urinating behind the bushes of Prospect Avenue. While these may be important areas of law enforcement, they are nowhere near as pressing.