A new Facebook group has been set up by students to help Fallowfield residents document crime.
Fallowfield Student Crime – or FSC – also aims to ‘create a dialogue’ between students, community leaders, police, and the universities.
The page is aiming to become a focal point for reports from victims of crime, and a place for students to share advice, information, skills and ideas. Within a week of launching, the page had nearly 100 ‘likes’.
FSC is also organising a ‘Fallowfield Forum’ drop-in meeting where students can contribute ideas toward the running of the project. The first meeting took place last week in the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union, with future meetings planned at other campuses and around Fallowfield.
Last month, The Mancunion revealed that a ‘first response’ student group was being considered by students living in Fallowfield. At the time, Greater Manchester Police said that such a project had not fully been “organised in conjunction with the police,” and that they were not in a position to “advocate people taking the law into their own hands.”
When asked about the new student group, the University of Manchester declined to comment, but pointed out a range of initiatives run by Manchester Student Homes.
A spokesperson said: “The universities, in partnership with the council and police, are committed to engaging in dialogue with students on all aspects of personal safety and household security.
“Through Manchester Student Homes, (jointly funded department of the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan) students are supported on all aspects of life off campus. MSH works in partnership with external agencies, and the wider University to develop specific campaigns around safety.
“These include a regular police drop-in surgery, a landlord accreditation scheme and a student ‘neighbourhood watch’ style group known as ‘Student Eye’ which has seen a number of student properties engaged with Manchester Student Homes and Greater Manchester Police.”
The Mancunion is currently awaiting comment from the organisers of the group.
