At around 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day of this year, a shooting occurred near building four of Monarch College Living. One person was fatally wounded named Ja’Shon Yates. In the aftermath of this tragedy, conversations have begun over how Monarch can prevent an event like this from ever occurring again.
On Jan. 18, Monarch and the Johnson City Police Department held a press conference discussing greater security measures for the complex. One of those improvements is restricting access to the buildings by having all doors locked without key card access. This security measure has been in practice on campus for years, but it doesn’t stop people from waiting outside the door for someone to let them in.
“If someone waits by a door for a resident to open it an awkward situation occurs because a resident can’t exactly refrain them from coming in,” said Dhara Patel, a Monarch resident.
Another security measure is additional security cameras, as well as recruiting off-duty JCPD officers according to WJHL. This is the first time that Monarch has made direct connections with the JCPD, which will certainly help with faster response times and more frequent patrols.
Another new action Monarch is implementing is restricting the number of guests for a resident to two. This policy is very restrictive, and according to WJHL, Monarch is warning residents of eviction if they break the rules.
A large majority of the students at Monarch are students at ETSU, and quite frankly, are not going to abide by the two-guest limit.
When asked for her opinion about these changes, Dhara Patel said, “Monarch has taken preventative measures to ensure resident safety. However, it isn’t a foolproof plan. Despite that, they are doing the best they can by implementing new security and having more security guards around the buildings.”
There are flaws within Monarch’s new security measures, but at least an effort is being made to prevent tragedy from occurring there again.
Melynda Taylor, another resident at Monarch, has similar opinions to Patel: ”I appreciate the steps Monarch has taken in order to create a safer living environment, but those steps only go so far. The security is still very difficult to reach in the evenings, but other than that, I believe they are on the right track in making Monarch a safer place to live.”
According to Taylor, security has still been hard to contact, but hopefully, in the next few months a more stable and reliable system becomes available.
Monarch is being very public about their desire to increase residents’ safety at the complex, but the leading question that remains is: why just now? There have been shootings at Monarch before; so why haven’t they done this sooner? Was the recent shooting a moral wake-up call for management? Or are they more worried about retaining their tenants?
Ultimately, the changes Monarch is making will increase safety for residents and visitors. Time will tell if these implementations will be enough.
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