Carnegie Mellon Police are stepping up efforts to keep students safe off-campus in the wake of 14 armed robberies across the city.

In the last month, more than a dozen armed robberies have occurred within three miles of campus, in Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, and downtown. At least three victims were Carnegie Mellon students.

Carnegie Mellon Police Chief Creig Doyle said his department is worried about the number of robberies and advises students to be even more vigilant about their safety than usual.

"It is critical that students change activity patterns … and hope that the city police make an arrest," said Doyle.

The offenses all occurred between 6 p.m. and midnight, though the sites of the robberies have varied from car garages to lonely sidewalks to ATM machines. The frequency of the robberies has escalated recently; six occurred on Monday night alone.

"We're very concerned of the frequency and boldness of these offenses," said Doyle.

Beginning Tuesday, extra Carnegie Mellon police vehicles started to patrol areas close to campus. The officers will stop if they notice any students walking alone in this buffer zone and alert them of the recent crimes and offer a ride home. These units will not respond to routine calls.

"They will be out there to prevent offenses," said Doyle.

Doyle urged students not to use some popular shortcuts between Forbes and Fifth Avenues, particularly the path through the woods across from Hamburg Hall, the wooden boardwalk near the WQED building, and the alley behind the Exxon gas station.

Students can make use of the Escort or SafeWalk to get home after dark. The Escort runs until 6:40 a.m. There are seven stops marked with "Escort" signs around campus, including the UniversityCenter turnaround. There are two 17-passenger Escort vans that run to Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and Oakland. A Carnegie Mellon ID is required for this service. Details of the Escort service are available at the University Police website (http://www.cmu.edu/police/escort.htm).

Students can also request a walk home with a SafeWalk representative by dialing x8-SAFE between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. SafeWalk is run through the division of student affairs.

Sergeant Aaron Beatty of the Pittsburgh Police Bureau suspects that all of the robberies were committed by the same person.

"By the descriptions, we believe the same actor could be involved in 14 robberies in Pittsburgh. Ten of them in the East End," said Beatty.

The East End stretches from Oakland to Wilkinsburg between the Allegheny and MonongahelaRivers.

Beatty described the suspect as a light-skinned African-American or biracial man between 5'10" and 6'2". He typically wears a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and ski mask and carries a dark-colored semi-automatic hand gun.

Anyone with information on the robberies is asked to call Pittsburgh Police at 412.323.7152.

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