Violent crimes on the campus declined in 2006, according to the FBI, after a report from the agency last year listed the university among the most dangerous in the nation.
The new report, released last month, shows 32 violent crimes on the campus, which translates to a rate of 0.9 violent crimes per 1,000 students. The crime rate in 2005 was about 1.1 per 1,000 students, last year’s study said.
The FBI report garnered a lot of attention last year because it ranked the university with the second-highest number of violent crimes in the country. Officials bemoaned that ranking, however, because it did not take into consideration the school’s population or location, both of which influence crime levels.
University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said the data is also biased because it involves such small numbers. That makes it nearly impossible to formulate trends because the slightest drop or spike in crimes can impact the overall data dramatically, he said.
“Any statistician will tell you with numbers that small, the statistical significance of them is not that great,” Dillon said.
S. Daniel Carter of Security on Campus, a non-profit organization that advocates for safer colleges, said schools with an active police force may appear more dangerous in the rankings as well, when in actuality, the campus is well-policed.
“Schools that do a much more aggressive job look worse on paper than a school that reports less crimes, but they also may be reporting it more diligently,” Carter said.
University Spokesman Millree Williams said when faced with crimes that shine a negative light on the campus, the university relies on its response to demonstrate the school’s commitment to safety.
He drew on the recent hate crime outside Nyumburu Cultural Center and two sexual assaults as examples of times when the administration reacted quickly by addressing student concerns at public forums.
“Consistency between values and behaviors is what we hope translates first to our university community, and from there, emanates out,” Williams said.
The FBI report said among the university’s peer institutions, both University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Los Angeles had rates higher than the university – 1.31 and 1.15 violent crimes per 1,000 students, respectively. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill had lower rates at 0.4 and 0.51, respectively. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign did not report crime statistics.
overlydbk@gmail.com
