When I approached my car and found that the passenger window had been broken, I took it pretty well. Any idiot could have guessed that the radio would be missing, so again I kept my calm. Although it took only a few hits on the dashboard for the heater knobs to start working again, frost had formed on the inside of the windshield, and it was then that I found this had gone too far. The thief had stolen my ice-scraper as well.
According to CityRating.com, Salt Lake City exceeds the average crime rate by a small margin in every category8212;including murder, rape, assault, robbery, burglary, car theft and arson8212;with the frequency of larceny or theft being a massive 2.28 times the U.S. national average. And, although reported statistics are low on official reports, a closer look at the U via CrimeReports.com reveals up to 54 crimes that occurred in the past 30 days, all within 1.5 miles of the South Campus TRAX station. Things could be worse, but we could do better to lower these numbers, though not necessarily by increasing the number of police officers or security cameras.
The Safety Report page on the U Department of Public Safety Web site states, “Students and employees should familiarize themselves with campus resources regarding safety and avoid behaviors that put them at risk.”
Although these actions are encouraged, there aren’t many programs or information on increasing crime prevention outside the Web site, and even the page itself can be difficult to find.
The department’s tip that “Most crime is committed in response to the opportunity, so the best prevention is to eliminate opportunities,” stands true, yet more could be done to educate the student body about prevention. Presentations on being “street smart,” upping office security, and tips on crime prevention practices, like those found at the University of Texas at Austin8212;which was rated as the sixth safest university in a 2005 survey by Reader’s Digest8212;should be made more readily available.
“Those kinds of presentations are available upon request,” said Sgt. Arb Nordgren of the U Police Department. “The reason we don’t have them regularly is because students don’t show up.”
It seems that interest is only sparked after a crime has already been committed. Nordgren also described how efforts are being made to make the Web site more user-friendly so that information about these programs can be found more easily.
Unique to this year, actions are being made to offer registration of both bikes and computers to increase recovery. This can be done online, but it is of benefit only when used. Also, the department offers 24-hour security escorts upon request.
To help the increase of awareness, students should be encouraged to make use of these programs and the available Web sites. As more attention is given to potential prevention tools, the department will have no choice but to understand the need we have for security awareness. Only then will availability and accessibility increase.
Eric Evans