This article, written by CofC student Samantha Rodriguez, was featured in CisternYard Media, College of Charleston’s Official Independent Student Media Network.
It seems as though timely warning e-mails and campus community notifications have been filling our inboxes more than ever. This leads many of us to question whether or not campus crime is on the rise. According to an interview with Officer Sloan at Public Safety, the amount of crimes on campus are actually going down. In fact, the amount of crime here at The College has significantly decreased since 2012.
Officer Sloan describes the increase of e-mails to be a normal phenomenon for this time of the year. “At the beginning of the school year, crime rates are always higher because there are freshman that are coming to campus who have never been away from home, battling with roommate issues, alcohol consumption, etc.”
“Another time when we expect an increase of crime on campus are at the end of the school year. When the weather gets warmer, there’s more outdoor activity,” Officer Sloan stated in interview.
The most common crimes on campus involve larcenies, or thefts. “A lot are preventable because those are crimes of opportunity. A lot of our thefts tend to come from the dining halls and Addlestone. Oftentimes, you see people get up to do something and leave their possessions behind. They come back and realize that it it went missing,” Sloan explained.
“Another issue is with bikes on campus. You see people not locking them properly, or just using cheap locks that easily can be broken. We recommended using ‘u-locks’ that are locked and unlocked solely by key.”
Amongst larceny, another common crime deals with alcohol violations in the dormitories. However, Officer Sloan insists that our numbers are not disproportionate to any other college campus.
Sloane put things into perspective when she explained, “Campus is about four blocks long, (Warren to Wentworth) and roughly three blocks wide (King to Coming). Enrolled, there are about 12,000 students, not counting faculty and staff. With that great of a population density compared to any other area with similar attributes, our crime rates are relatively low.”
With reassurance that crime here at the College is pretty normal, Officer Sloan wished to provide the campus community with some words of advice. “Always be aware of your surroundings. A lot of the time, you see someone walking down the street texting with their ear buds in, not aware of their surroundings or what is going on. A steady awareness at all times goes a long way.”
Public Safety would like to remind all students that they are available 24/7. They offer escorts home to those on-campus or to any immediate residential area. You can always avoid walking home late night with the Cougar Shuttle, which is available from 11pm-3 am, 7 days a week.