Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill’s report on sexual assault on college campuses, coupled with a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, spurred university leaders all over the country to increase their efforts to prevent crime in 2014 – and halfway through this academic year, SIU says they’re seeing about what they expected.
“In the end, especially if we’re going to talk about the sex offenses, the result on that one is going to be to end them. The result is going to be to not have any. So next year when we look, we want to have less than we had this year, if not none. So what do we need to do to get to that? The programming, the education, the awareness level, is what we’re working on.”
Sergeant Chad Beights with SIU’s Department of Public Safety also heads up the federal reporting of crimes – also known as the Clery Report. That report comes out each October, and must be filed by every university in the United States. He says there was an uptick in reporting last semester – but also says that was anticipated, as every student, faculty, and staff member had to go through training on how to recognize problems and report them.
SIU President Randy Dunn was talking about ways to increase awareness and safety before the school year began.
“The challenge, I think, we have is to ensure that on the preventative side, we’re taking every approach possible to get these things stopped before they start.”
Early in the semester, Dunn and the late Chancellor Paul Sarvela announced plans to increase safety measures – including hiring more police officers and adding new lighting. Administrators today say they’re making progress on both efforts: New hires are in process, and with the help of a state grant, lights are being upgraded all over campus.
Sergeant Beights says part of the awareness training was letting people know what to look for, and when to alert the authorities.
“What are they doing? Are they doing something that doesn’t look right? Are they walking through areas that normally people don’t walk around? Are they in parking lots, looking through vehicles or around vehicles that shouldn’t be there? Are they in housing areas, trying to get inside buildings, when they don’t belong in that area?”
Beights says SIU Public Safety works closely with Carbondale’s Police Department, as well as law enforcement authorities across southern Illinois. He says each agency works together not just to prevent crime – but to assist victims.
“It’s more about what can we do to help the victim of that crime – what resources can we provide, what can we do as a university to help them get back to the way they were before – than it really is to report that number. It’s really about how we can help that person.”
President Dunn agrees. He says he’s working with Carbondale leaders to make the city more inviting, but also safer – a place where students can have a good time without getting out of hand.
“There are ways, with ordinances and with enforcement, to deal with these problems. It doesn’t solve it all with the wave of a wand, but to say that ‘there’s nothing we can do about this’ is not correct, either. I want to make sure that my contact and interface with City Council exists, because ultimately they’re going to have to look at some of these things to figure out laws that go on the books to help us address this.”
Last fall’s safety awareness campaign included not just ways to identify crimes, but also ways to keep yourself safe. Sergeant Beights says just planning ahead can make a big difference for young people.
“If you go out for the evening, whatever you’re doing for the night, if you leave as a group, come home as a group. Make those decisions prior to leaving – that ‘We’re not leaving anyone out tonight. This is what our plan is, this is where we’re going, and we’re going to do it all together. If somebody doesn’t want to do it, let’s re-work our plan, so that we don’t leave someone alone.’”
And Dunn says personal responsibility must be a part of the equation, as students transition from teens to adults during their college career.
“Going to college, for our young men and women, is about taking on adult responsibility, and looking at where you decide to go a three or four in the morning, and what you do, and how you spend your time, and stopping and pausing to think, ‘Is this a good thing – to tip over a car?’”
Dunn and others say they have seen an increase in reporting over the last several months. And while the numbers may spike in the October 2015 Clery Report, advocates say increasing awareness is an important step in making changes for the better. And Sergeant Beights says it’s also important to remember there is much more happening in Carbondale than what can be found on a police report:
“Students do wonderful things every day. Students are out, making names for themselves and making names for their organizations, and that’s not being reported. One negative criminal action is reported immediately. With that, a lot of people don’t see the good in SIU and what the students are doing.”
You can find more information about SIU’s Clery Report and police statistics at www.dps.siu.edu.
