Campus Watch could cut campus crime
As more students gather on campus, crime rates go up, but with the new Campus Watch Program, crime rates could decrease with time, said Kim Ellis, detective for the USU Police.
Ellis said crime on campus this fall has increased the same amount it does every fall because of the amount of students that return to campus. However, Ellis said he hopes crime rates will now decrease with the new Campus Watch program that has been implemented this semester.
Ellis said so far this semester there have been five reports of theft in the HPER building. Two of those were reports of just misplaced personal items, but the other three personal items reported were actually stolen, he said. There have also been several bike thefts all over campus and all of the thefts occurred because the bikes were not locked up, he said.
“Theft is a crime of opportunity,” Ellis said. “If we remove the opportunity, the crime shouldn’t happen. We just need to be sure that classrooms are locked up and students need to lock up their bike, preferably to the bike racks. Students also need to remember not to leave their backpacks, laptops or other personal items unattended.”
Ellis said he thinks the Campus Watch program is a great way to inform students of criminal activity on campus. He said it’s a new program and it is still in the developmental stages right now. He said it’s about 80 percent active right now.
“It’s a work in progress to where we want to have it,” he said.
Ellis said once the police hear about a crime they send e-mails through campus to try to get the information out as quickly as possible to inform people. The e-mails are sent to many key people on campus who can then disperse the information to other areas, he said. Some information is posted on student boards throughout the different buildings so students can know what to be aware of and what is happening, he said.
Kelly Brinkerhoff, senior in public relations, said she feels safe most of the time when she’s on campus, but being on campus at night, she doesn’t feel safe at all.
“It’s very dark in some areas up here at night and I just don’t feel safe walking around by myself,” she said. “It’s just not well lit and you never know what could happen.”
Brinkerhoff said there are several ways she thinks campus can be safer such as educating students about the emergency stations on campus and making sure they are always in working order. Several emergency stations have out of order signs and she said she thinks it is important to fix them as soon as possible. Brinkerhoff also said she thinks informing students about what to do during an emergency is a great idea and would benefit everyone.
Ellis said the Campus Watch program is not only the responsibility of the campus police but the responsibility of everyone on campus. There were three projectors missing out of the Fine Arts building in April, he said. Ellis said a projector was replaced in the Fine Arts building, but several days later it disappeared again. A facility worker found a wrapper to wire cutters in the room where the projector had been stolen and decided to turn it in to the police, he said. Ellis said the police discovered it was a specific brand that was only sold at Home Depot, so they went to the store and ran through the security tapes to find the man who had bought the wire cutters. They also got a picture of his car and soon after the Logan Police found his car, Ellis said, identified the man and made the arrest. There was about $25,000 worth of equipment recovered from the man, Ellis said.
“Just a little bit of information is important,” Ellis said. “That is why Campus Watch is so important. Someone may have just a little bit of information that may be useful. They can just send the information back to me.”
Ellis said students can prevent some theft by taking simple precautions.
“Protect yourself and your property and the university’s property,” Ellis said. “Lock stuff up. Remove the opportunity so theft decreases.”
–s.k.b@aggiemail.usu.edu