Security of NU dorms

Last Spring, the shrill ring of side door alarms echoed through Northwestern's campus. Even louder were the complaints lodged by the students setting off these alarms. Unfair and unwanted security measures had been instituted by the University administration. Now, nearly a year has passed and the outcry has dwindled. But is there any evidence that Northwestern's security efforts have made students safer?

There were only 158 thefts this past school year compared to 202 in 2006-07, according to the NUPD Web site. There were 55 burglaries this year, however, compared to 28 in the previous. These crime statistics include not only those crimes committed in University residences, but those in other campus buildings.

"When you add security to a location, there are more service calls and more officers," said Northwestern Police Commander Darren Davis. Davis mentioned that the new security measures have helped the police make more arrests and be more efficient. But Davis also emphasized the importance of security being a community effort. "Students are all part of this" Davis stressed. "It's all one big partnership."

In addition to putting alarms on all side doors, the new procedures put University police community service officers (CSOs) on duty from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in about two-thirds of the residence halls. Security cameras were installed in both university buildings and campus grounds, while roving security officers began to report to University police.

In Winter 2006, a poll was posted online by ASG asking students their opinion on alarming all side doors to campus dormitories. Just over 2000 students responded and the results were startling. Ninety percent were against alarming the dorms. With the students' safety in mind, Vice President of Student Affairs William Banis, along with the University administration, introduced the proposed security measures despite their unpopularity.

The security monitor program had been in place for about 25 years before it was ushered out in 2007. "To help educate students about the changes, we instituted a safety education program which was a blackboard program," said Virginia Koch, the senior assistant directory of Residential Life. It was completed by more than 95 percent of students living on campus. Koch said that the program was put into place to reiterate old procedures as well as introducing new ones.

Koch, who has been working at Northwestern since 1991, thinks Northwestern students have always had a hard time dealing with change. But this time, although the changes were made against student consensus, there has been a positive outcome, according to Koch. "With the CSO program, to me it seems that students have really embraced the program," Koch said.

The CSO program was first met with resistance, but was later accepted due to its effectiveness. SESP junior Joe Buckley, former president of Shepard Residential College, thinks that the CSO program and the installation of cameras has been effective in curbing crime on campus. "However, there still are far too few real cops, on foot (not in their cars) patrolling campus" said Buckley. "There are still occasional break-ins and assaults. The real problems are when they are preventable, either by police or reporting something. Stuff should not happen in high trafficked areas," Buckley added, referring to an incident where a girl was mugged at the arch.

"We want to make sure we're addressing the priority issues on behalf of the student body. Safety has been one of the top priorities of the administration," said Neal Sales-Griffin, president of ASG. Sales-Griffin emphasized that although the safety measures were initially unpopular among the student body, the administration was acting in the best interest of the students. "I'd rather have people be more safe than (have) the convenience. I think the university doesn't have much of a choice."

"One of the biggest issues that students still have is walking around on campus and off campus at night," said Nate Perkins, vice president of student services for ASG. Perkins, along with members of student services, do "light walks" around campus every month to evaluate the darker areas on campus.

There were many concerns about the ability of the administration to effectively consider student opinion. "From our perspective, there was a huge outcry from the students. We felt that we had been told that we would be included," said Sales-Griffin referring to a meeting that ASG had with Dr. Banis and NUPD.

Commander Davis spoke about how well the program has been doing for the police, regardless of how it was received by students. "It has allowed us to be more responsive," Davis said. "It's like one big team. If you didn't have (everyone working together), then it wouldn't work."

j-waytz@northwestern.edu

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