Chattanooga: Colleges battle crime

UTC graduate student Matt Holden rarely thinks twice about safety when he’s on campus.

“I feel real safe on campus, to be honest with you,” said the MBA student, who lives off campus and takes only night classes. “If something is going on, they’ll send you text messages that there’s some alert in some building.”

Local and state college students may have good reason to feel safe. Overall crime at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga fell in 2008, following a statewide trend of less crime on campuses, according to a report released this week by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Last year was the fourth year in a row that crime decreased on college campuses in Tennessee, TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said. Crime decreased by about 12 percent from 2006 to 2007 and about 6.4 percent from 2007 to 2008, she said.

While drug violations increased about 3.6 percent, offenses for drug paraphernalia decreased by 6.8 percent. DUI arrests increased by 19 percent. Rapes dropped from 25 in 2007 to 12 in 2008, and fraud decreased more than 30 percent, according to the report.

“When the TBI started to notice this, we contacted larger institutions and asked, ‘What are you doing at your college campus to make sure it’s safe?’” Ms. Helm said. “A lot said that they had installed card readers on buildings and assigned officers to certain posts. Some were installing cameras.”

Thefts continue to be among the most prevalent crimes on campuses, representing more than one-third of all crimes reported. Local colleges and universities — with the exception of Southern Adventist and Lee universities — had mostly steady numbers from 2007 to 2008. The number of thefts at Southern and Lee increased by 12 and 38, respectively.

“Two years ago, looking at 2006, we had 105 reported incidents (of theft),” said Ashley Mew, director of campus safety at Lee. “So we’re way below what we’ve seen in recent years.”

Lee officials host safety seminars for staff and students, reminding them to keep valuables out of sight and lock officer and car doors behind them, he added.

The report may not tell the complete story of crime on campuses, especially if students don’t report crimes that occur, said Chuck Cantrell, associate vice chancellor for university relations at UTC. But he thinks the decrease in crime does correspond to increased safety measures because the university encourages students to report crimes.

The university installed 200 cameras around campus, started a student security force and instituted meetings with student groups to discuss crime and alcohol awareness, which often go hand-in-hand, Mr. Cantrell said.

“We have to work with everyone here to take responsibility for their own personal safety and the safety of others,” he said. “We all have a role in community policing.”

Chattanooga State Technical Community College has seen somewhat steady crime statistics, so officials haven’t changed much of the safety plan, said Jeff Olingy, vice president for economic and community development. Officials focus on making sure the lighting works around campus and that campus officers vary their patrol routes so they are not predictable.

Thefts at Chattanooga State increased between 2007 and 2008, from 28 to 36, records show, but the number of offenses in other categories stayed roughly the same.

“We are not doing anything fundamentally different, because what we have been doing has been working,” Mr. Olingy said.