SAFETY SMART STUDENT

When choosing a college to attend, one of the most important considerations, personal safety, is often not thoroughly investigated or it is overlooked altogether. In referring to institutions of higher education, the term "college" is used throughout this book. This includes public and private universities, military, and two-year to post-graduate academic institutions. Some of the factors to consider in determining if the college you are considering has a safe environment are safety and security organizations, crime statistics, crime prevention programs, and college and community commitment to public safety.

Many citizens perceive campus police to be primarily security guards. Contrary to this supposition, the majority of college campuses in the United States employ sworn law enforcement officers who carry firearms and have state-mandated arrest powers to enforce laws and ordinances. Police patrols operate on a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week schedule. Crime prevention and investigations are primarily during the week during daytime business hours. These services often go beyond daytime hours and offer students evening and weekend crime prevention programs, or to investigate crime. Another resource, victim service advocates, are usually available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Recognize that not all college campuses have sworn officers protecting the campus and not all campuses have all the divisions mentioned here. Colleges employing security personnel who are not certified law enforcement officers usually have a working partnership with local law enforcement agencies which respond to incidents that involve arrests and other official police matters. Campus public safety and security departments may also have a mutual aid agreement with neighboring city, county and state law enforcement agencies to assist in police situations requiring a greater magnitude of police power.

In 1995, The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) conducted a survey of campus law enforcement agencies serving U.S. campus communities to determine the level of campus law enforcement services provided to college campus communities. BJS surveyed 4-year colleges with a student enrollment population of at least 2500. In the study, of 682 college campuses meeting the criteria, 680 colleges had either a state-regulated police department or a security service providing safety and security. The study reveals that the larger the student population, the more sworn, armed officers provide protective and security services to the campus communities. The study also indicates that more public colleges than private colleges have sworn and armed officers protecting the campus. Sworn officers are state certified and trained to perform multiple police functions. During your college assessment and selection process, find out what type of public safety organization is responsible for providing police protection and services on campus and in the community.

SSS Web reference: For more information about the BJS survey go to web site http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/clea95.txt.

Combating campus crime effectively requires collective participation between students and the community. As a new or returning student, you should expect that the community you have chosen to live in have public safety systems in place to augment your safety. The responsibility does not totally fall on the community, as you are expected to be responsible for your own personal protection and safety. Since crime is too immense and complex for one person or agency to totally manage crime prevention and controls, Collective Crime Control Management (C.C.C.M.) is required. Collective Crime Control Management is a strategic process whereby partnerships between individuals, groups and organizations are established to eliminate and/or deal with criminal activity through active participation of both citizens and law enforcement. C.C.C.M. programs also address personal safety education, criminal apprehension, prosecution, and confinement, for the purpose of establishing a crime controlled environment for everyone.

In the past, some college officials have not reported accurate crime statistics to the public. Because no college wants to appear unsafe, some officials have manipulated and misconstrued data on crimes that occur on campus. As a result, there is ongoing pressure directed at college and public safety officials to report crimes that do occur on college campuses. Any criminal activity that affects your safety as a college student is a critical issue when evaluating a college you anticipate attending. Parents expect their sons and daughters to be protected and safe while they attend college. A collegiate institution is not a separate entity in the community; it is an influential and key participant in the community. All colleges need to have available, to you and other students, ongoing crime prevention orientations and personal safety programs designed to educate and assist in living safely while attending college. There is no acceptable excuse for college officials not to report and make available actual and unaltered crime statistics on an annual and continual basis. This includes reporting violent crimes that occur in the community as quickly and accurately as possible. If a serial rapist is operating in a community, all community members, including students attending college in the area, must be made aware of what is going on for personal safety reasons. Do you want to attend a college that is not honest and forthright about campus crime? How can any college combat crime when they are in denial about the type and number of crimes occurring on campus and in the surrounding community? How can you, the college's most important customer, intelligently assess the safety of your environment when you do not know what is going on? You have to know actual campus crime statistics to help assess your personal safety. You will need this information, so ask questions.