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In this file photo, students walk through Rutgers-Newark's campus. The campus will be expanding security alerts to students to include crimes in train stations, mass transit hubs and other parts of Newark frequented by students.

(JOHN O'BOYLE/THE STAR-LEDGER)



NEWARK — Rutgers-Newark students will be getting more alerts about serious crimes off campus, university officials announced today.

Starting immediately, campus police will expand the number of security notices to include crimes in train stations, mass transit hubs and other areas of Newark frequented by students. The announcement comes one day after Rutgers President Robert Barchi said the university is overhauling its security system to notify students, faculty and staff about off-campus crimes near the main campus in New Brunswick.

Rutgers officials were criticized last month when they failed to send out security alerts after a former Rutgers student was found beaten to death a few blocks from campus in New Brunswick. Rutgers administrators said they were not required under federal law to notify students about crimes unless they happen on or immediately adjacent to campus.

The changes to the Rutgers-Newark alert system will affect students, faculty and staff on the Newark campus and the nearby Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences schools on the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey campus.

"The safety record of our campuses is founded on collaboration, communication, and awareness building," said Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor. "Expanding the sphere of our safety notices is designed to increase the safety and security of our campus populations even further by increasing all three of those elements."

Last month, Rutgers-Newark and the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences campuses also reorganized their police forces. Those changes included hiring more staff and putting more security personnel on street patrols, campus officials said.

The overhaul of the Rutgers crime notification system was inspired by the death of William McCaw, a former Rutgers student found beaten to death Feb. 15 in the backyard of a house near the New Brunswick campus. The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office is still investigating the death of McCaw, a Tennessee resident who had recently transferred to Kean University in Union Township.

When Rutgers failed to notify students about the search for McCaw's killer, students and parents started an online petition calling for changes to the university's security alert system. It has drawn more than 2,500 signatures.

McCaw's father, Bob McCaw, said he signed the petition and he is happy to hear Rutgers is stepping up efforts to notify its campuses about crimes.

"Hopefully Rutgers has become a safer place, and Mary and I will continue to be in prayer for those young people who showed so much character and compassion to us," Bob McCaw said in a written statement.

Jenna Klein, a Rutgers senior who started the online petition, said more alerts won't make her feel safer. But they may make students more aware of their surroundings and more cautious.

"I think any precaution that's being taken (to) increase safety on campus and increase students' awareness of the status of their safety is obviously a positive change," said Klein, of East Brunswick.

NJ.com's Brian Amaral contributed to this report.

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