By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – University at Buffalo police officers will work with their counterparts from the city to patrol the University Heights neighborhood, starting late next month. The new collaboration was announced Thursday by Mayor Byron Brown and UB President John Simpson.
Besides the joint patrols, UB has purchased new security cameras, Segway personal transporters and new bicycles as part of this collaboration. Simpson says the university will also be working with students who live in the neighborhood to improve their behavior.
Brown says the city will crackdown on absentee landlords who rent to students with a more aggressive code enforcement program. Fred Brace lives on Niagara Falls Boulevard. He's chairman of the University Heights Community Development Association. Brace says enforcing the housing code is key.
Brace says he agrees with Police Commissioner McCarthy Gipson's contention that University Heights is a safe neighborhood. Brace says the presence of students in his neighborhood adds to its vibrancy. He says the city housing court has reached out to a graduate student on Lisbon Avenue to help organize a block club to keep an eye on what's happening there.