Eve Carson’s legacy continues to shape public safety measures

In the days following the murder of former Student Body President Eve Carson, a wave of shock resounded throughout the normally quiet town of Chapel Hill.

The death of Carson, who was well known for her outgoing personality and campus leadership, touched thousands of people — reaching into the lives of police, administrators and students alike.

More than three years later, local officials say Carson’s death sparked a change in how Chapel Hill officials and University students work together, which has in turn strengthened public safety options for students.

“I feel like the Eve Carson murder changed our community in a lot of ways,” said Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue. “I think it changed our student population.”

Carson was found dead in a Chapel Hill intersection about a mile from campus on the morning of March 5, 2008. Police say Carson, who was shot five times, had been abducted from her off-campus house.
“Her death was heartbreaking to officers,” Blue said. “We don’t have a lot of real violent crime in our community, and this was such a random, violent, senseless act.”

Students flocked by the thousands to Polk Place to mourn her loss immediately after her death, and charity races, scholarships and a memorial garden still help to commemorate the woman who embodied the “Carolina Way.”

Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., the second man charged with her murder, is on trial for first-degree murder, armed robbery, first-degree kidnapping and felony larceny in connection with Carson’s death. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Jury selection for the trial began last week and is expected to wrap up today, after all 12 jurors and alternates are selected, and opening arguments will likely begin Tuesday.

Demario Atwater, Lovette’s co-defendant, was convicted of first-degree murder for Carson’s murder last year.

A change in relationship

Jasmin Jones, who served as student body president during the 2009-2010 school year, said she thinks Carson’s murder led students to take public safety concerns more seriously.

“For someone to be taken away like Eve was is different,” she said. “It made the students more concerned about their own safety.”

Carson’s murder drew attention to on-campus safety, like the University’s blue light system, and to off-campus and public safety options.

Blue said he has seen students’ perception toward crime change since the murder, which he thinks has led students to work more closely with local officials to ensure safety.

“I feel like our interactions with the student population are better,” Blue said. “In personal safety, crime issues — they connect with us in a different way.”

He said Carson also placed value in collaboration with the town, and the legacy of her town relationship has caused a change in how students and town safety officials interact.

As student body president, Carson asked the Town Council to approve three off-campus blue light emergency call boxes.

“I see students valuing the relationship they have with their community more now,” Blue said. “We can attribute that to things that she valued.”

Campus safety changes

Randy Young, spokesperson for the UNC Department of Public Safety, said he has seen changes to police jurisdiction rules and the Alert Carolina system in the past few years, though those weren’t necessarily caused by Carson’s murder.

But many of the changes address issues that received attention after Carson’s death.

Young said during the summer of 2010, the public safety department and Chapel Hill Police Department implemented a joint jurisdiction initiative.

He said shared jurisdiction allows the department to respond to situations on Franklin or West Rosemary Street while patrolling University buildings located on the streets, allowing campus police the authority to monitor areas where many students live.

“I think it’s presumptuous to think of a person’s security ending when they cross Franklin Street,” he said.

The University has also seen changes to programs like Alert Carolina that have improved communication since Carson’s death, Young said.

“One other thing that has changed is the expectations about how we communicate,” he said.

Young said the University’s mass text messaging system allows students to receive information about crimes that occur off campus.

But Young said the changes have been in the works for years.

“We’ve made changes, and they address some of the issues that were present during the wake of Eve Carson,” he said.

“But some were seeds planted prior to her.”

Impact on Greeks

Lindsey Stephens, president of the Panhellenic Council, said off-campus safety was emphasized when she was a freshman, partly because Carson died that spring.

She said the Greek community works closely with Chapel Hill police and town government to ensure safety, and that relationship has seen greater priority.

“A lot of the things we do require cooperation with the town and police — 5Ks, anything that requires the use of public space,” she said. “Over the past two years, there’s been an increased awareness of that relationship.”

Stephens said initiatives like a flat-rate taxi and an option to pay for police surveillance of off-campus sorority houses could also help to improve safety.

“I’ve seen substantial improvements since I was a freshman, but I would like to see more,” she said.

As Lovette’s trial returns Carson’s name to headlines, Blue said her impact can be seen in that greater emphasis on safety.
“(Carson’s death) really swept through our office, and it still does,” Blue said.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.