With the Halloween season upon us, ghosts, ghouls and other scary sights are starting to pop up around Baton Rouge. But there is one place near the University that strikes fear into students and travelers year round: Tigerland.
The dark, desolate land between Alvin Dark Avenue and Brightside Drive is home to a plethora of horrors. A bump in the night could be a burglar, a gunshot or a drunkard crashing into a dumpster. Residents, including myself, live in a constant state of terror.
If you don’t live here, you probably don’t understand this feeling or the amount of crime that occurs in Tigerland. It’s not Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. It’s not safe. Something should be done to ensure the safety of those living there.
Last week, two men were injured by gunshots near Reggie’s Bar. This is the most recently reported incident. Personally, I’m hardly surprised when I see numerous police cars in the area.
Just days before last week’s shooting, I pulled up to my building near Jim Taylor Drive and saw five unmarked Dodge Chargers with officers wearing protective vests scouring the complex across the street.
Sights like this are commonplace for myself and other students living in the area. Student safety shouldn’t be an issue only on a college campus; it should involve the entire college community. University students living in Tigerland would most likely agree.
Bri Esposito, a communication studies senior, recalled the time her Tiger Plaza apartment was broken into the summer before her sophomore year.
“I worked a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift and came home to find my door ajar. Looking back, I shouldn’t have just run inside before calling police. My kitchen was a mess. My things were all over the floor. It was like they were looking for something,” Esposito said. “My bedroom door, which I kept locked, was kicked down. They stole my digital camera and my Mac. Tragically, an unwatched DVD of season four of ‘True Blood’ was inside my laptop.”
Esposito said she was traumatized by the event and researched ways to get over a home burglary. After attempting to cope, she moved out of her apartment building that week and into one that she felt would make her less of a target.
Although her complex was gated and her apartment had an alarm, Esposito said she still did not feel safe, and that her mind was at ease only after moving completely out of Tigerland.
Having your “True Blood” DVD stolen sucks (pun intended), but losing your peace of mind with it is truly unforgivable.
Raquel Romero, an English junior, lives in the Tigerland neighborhood and said she has just had her first experience with the neighborhood’s crime.
“I ordered a package online that the post office said arrived on Saturday at 10 a.m., but it was never received. I think it was stolen,” Romero said. “I’m waiting on a call from the post office to verify whether it was truly delivered
or not.”
Romero said she doesn’t feel safe living in Tigerland.
“I go straight home and straight to my apartment,” Romero said. “My complex is not gated and I don’t have an alarm system. I just don’t feel safe.”
Perhaps an exorcism is needed for the entire Tigerland area. Then again, there probably isn’t enough sage in the world to ward off the evil that lurks among those shabby, run-down streets.
Increased police patrols would be a great start. I’d like to see BRPD cruisers going around and around the neighborhood like they’re on a carousel before Tigerland becomes one big criminal circus. All it’s missing is the killer clowns.
Justin Stafford is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Walker, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter
@j_w_stafford.