An influx of safety notices from University Police this semester has caused concern for some University of Maryland students about their safety on the campus, although the notices do not necessarily indicate an increase in overall crime.
Between Jan. 1 and Tuesday, University Police sent out 14 safety notices, according to police website data. This is a stark contrast to 2014 and 2015, when 27 and 20 safety notices were sent out the entire year, respectively.
Of these cumulative 61 notices, there were 36 for burglaries, robberies and attempts on or off the campus, not counting one false report of a robbery, according to the website.
Just six of these 36 alerts were for on-campus incidents. Other notices reported incidents such as assault, rape, indecent exposure and hate crimes.
Safety notices are sent in the event of an incident that presents an “active or ongoing threat” to the campus community, while text message alerts are sent when a situation or incident is considered an imminent danger, police spokeswoman Sgt. Rosanne Hoaas said. The different types of incidents that may be reported to the community through safety notices are determined by the Clery Act, and notices ultimately are sent out on a case-by-case basis, she said.
Although the community has received a substantial number of safety notices this semester, that does not accurately portray how much crime is taking place on the campus, Hoaas said.
“There’s not a formula out there to say why there have been more notices this year than others,” Hoaas said. “Crime gets reported when crime gets reported.”
From Jan. 1 to March 8, there have been four on-campus burglary reports and one robbery report, Hoaas said. By comparison, in all of 2015 there were 48 burglary reports and one robbery, a decline from 2014’s 75 burglary reports and three robbery reports. Burglary is more common because it encompasses various offenses involving unlawful entry.
“It’s just a matter of looking at the totality of the circumstances and not just one event,” Hoaas said. “What people are doing is getting caught up in alerts that they don’t have a frame of reference for.”
One exception to the case-by-case basis rule is robbery. A safety notice or text alert will always be sent out for a robbery, whether it involved weapons or not, Hoaas said.
Hoaas emphasized that students should not look at alerts or notices as an indication of any type of trend.
“We use [the alerts] to inform people about what’s going on in their community, and for them to make decisions geared toward their safety,” Hoaas said.
