Students have been complaining more and more about stolen property. Radios, cell phones, bicycles, pocket calculators and books have all been reported stolen. Are there enough campus police to do the job? There are 20 offices in the campus security division. Their job is to handle crime, accidents, lost and found items, and traffic problems on campus. More than half of their time is spent directing traffic and writing parking tickets. Responding promptly to accidents and other emergencies is important, but it is their smallest job. Dealing with crime takes up the rest of their time. Very rarely did any violent crimes actually occur.
In the last five years there have been no murders, seven robberies, and about sixty other violent attacks, most of these involving fights at parties. On the other hand, there have been hundreds of thefts and cases of deliberate damaging of public property, which usually involves breaking windows or lights, or writing on walls. The thefts are not the carefully planned burglaries that you see in movies. Things get stolen when it is just easy to steal them because they are left lying around unwatched. Do we really need more police?Hiring more campus police would cost money, possibly making our tuition go up again. A better way to solve this problem might be for all of us to be more careful with our things.
