CSU safe?
CSU may not be as safe as other state universities in the eyes
of some transfer students.
“I’ve had calculators, books and my bike stolen,” said senior
Terry Miller, who transferred to CSU from University of Colorado in
fall of 2000. “Police seem to have a bigger presence up here, it
just seems like they’re always writing bike tickets or
something.”
When Miller had his bike stolen he had little faith that the
police would be able to recover it.
“I reported it and all they pretty much said was ‘if you see it
locked up somewhere else we’ll come and get it,'” Miller said.
Comparisons between neighboring universities, CSUPD’s opinion of
crime rates and the psychological effect of feeling unsafe on
campus all has an affect on students in a variety of ways.
Top problems facing CSUPD this year statistically point to
property theft, but Capt. Bob Chaffee says sexual assault is an
area of concern.
“Sexual assaults are a number that seem higher than comparable
universities, but I personally think that we do a thorough job of
investigating these crimes,” Chaffee said. “Statistically thefts,
most particularly bike theft, seem to be an area of high
concern.”
Tim McGraw, CU Police Department Spokesman, said they encounter
similar problems.
“When it comes down to it, theft is the most prevalent of all
the issues that we face,” McGraw said.
Sexual crimes also rank high on McGraw’s list of crime related
concerns.
“We’re very concerned with sexual assault because the effect on
the victim is so great.”
Joan Williams, records manager at CSUPD, confirms that because
of their low budget, it is difficult for the police department to
solve crime without high contributions from the community.
“We can’t afford to offer any type of a reward,” Williams said.
“We can’t be everywhere, we’re not aware of what is going on a lot
of the time unless someone calls in and tells us.”
Statistically speaking, CSU seems to encounter the same kinds of
crimes, particularly property theft, as most other
universities.
“I would say people on college campuses make poor decisions and
there are more petty crimes and less violent ones,” Williams said.
“We see a few more crimes against people these days, but not many.
People who commit property crimes don’t see these crimes as
severe.”
Junior Katherine Mann, who transferred to CSU from University
of
Northern Colorado as a sophomore has noticed the change between
the two police forces.
“I think they had more of a presence at UNC. There are police
officers everywhere down there,” Mann said. “The seem more involved
and they make themselves more known.”
Mann’s faith in the police department is also low.
“If something gets stolen with so many students, how are they
going to find the person who took my stereo or whatever?” Mann
said.
In order to change students’ opinion, CSUPD needs to make
themselves more accessible to students, Mann said.
However CSUPD may have a different point of view.
“There’s a ton of stuff, we all try to reach out to students to
make them aware of all the issues they’re going to face,” said
Chaffee.
As far as things holding the police department back Chaffee
agrees that financial resources are a restriction.
“Resources are always an issue when it comes to law
enforcement,”
Chaffee said. “What we could use even more is more community
interaction.”
For those who are worriers by nature, feeling unsafe on campus
can have quite an effect.
“It is a person by situation interaction. If you’re the kind of
person that worries anyway, feeling unsafe will definitely effect
your concentration,” said Ernie Chavez, chair of CSU psychology
department. “The world’s a dangerous place and if you walk around
thinking about it all the time you’ll drive yourself crazy.”
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