The Gainesville Police Department has reported 12 robberies since Friday and officials are urging victims to call 911 as soon as possible after the attack.
Although GPD is working hard to catch suspects, spokesman Keith Kameg said the victims need to pick up the slack.
"Students have to break the chain of calling their family or friends and then the police," Kameg said.
The sooner officers reach the crime scene, the more likely they are to catch the robber, Kameg said.
He said the majority of the robberies in Gainesville are occurring on or near Southwest 20th Avenue and the victims are mostly Hispanic. The area was just annexed to Gainesville on June 1.
In light of this "violent summer," Kameg said GPD will release changes to its strategy on how to combat the increase of robberies.
