Share
With several criminal incidents occurring recently on and off the Virginia Tech campus, many students are concerned for their safety after dark.
As a result, students have been wondering whether crime has increased or whether the police have been notifying the community of more since the shootings last spring.
However, crime has not increased this year and the police have not been notifying the community any more than they used to, police said.
"We haven't changed any of our policies," said Capt. Bruce Bradbery of the Blacksburg Police.
Crime seems to have increased over the course of this semester due to a more concerned community. Following the campus shootings last April, students and the Blacksburg community have become more likely to notify police of crimes, Bradbery said.
"People are more sensitive and aware, and are more willing to report," Bradbery said.
Isaac Van Patten, professor of criminal justice at Radford University, and chair of the RU criminal justice department, said that the events from earlier this semester and last year have created a sense of worry, which causes people to notify the police more frequently.
In addition, Patten stated that crime rates depend upon the community's relationship with the police.
"When the community and the police work together, crime rates go down," Patten said.
Nevertheless, when the two institutions work together there are more notifications of crimes, because the community is more responsive. While notification of crimes by witnesses may go up, this does not necessarily mean that crime itself is increasing.
Blacksburg generally has a low crime rate when compared to urban Roanoke. However, crime exists nonetheless, and the reason students are so affected when crime is reported is because of the sheltered "bubble" of college, Patten said.
"The reality of college is that it is a four-year period where you don't have to deal with the intrusion of the real world," Patten said. "Tech has been put in the position where the bubble has been burst."
Another reason for the seeming increase in crime is media reporting, Patten said. Media reporting has two consequences. In a negative respect, it may spark copycat events. But in the same respect it also heightens awareness, which leads to more reporting.
Both Patten and Bradbery agreed that crime hasn't increased but simply many peoples' perspective toward it has changed.
Leave a comment 6 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
how can you say that crime rates are not up, and then have a little chart that says that crimes have gone up? says here in your chart that robberies are up 67 percent... that would seem to be a significant increase... is that perception? another thing for ben macdonald, crime-stat-boy: up 67 percent over what? last week? last month? last year?
Reply to this Top
I think the problem they are trying to explain is that 1) the number of crimes havent increased, and 2) the way the public is notified by the police hasnt changed. What HAS changed is the number of crimes being reported in the first place. You cant report on what you dont KNOW about. This should go a long way to all those people a couple of weeks ago when we got to arguing about crime rates in bburg. You have it from the horses mouth this time. Crime hasnt risen. Awareness has.
Reply to this Top
My concern isn't that crime rates may or may not have gone up. Regardless of a change in awareness or interaction, the crimes we've been notified about still happened. This says to me that students do have good reason to be concerned about their safety after dark. It's good to know crime rates haven't risen, but it certainly doesn't mean 'don't worry about it. it's only awareness.' Hopefully Patten is right and with this increased awareness crime rates in Blacksburg will go down.
Reply to this Top
There are 2 problems with this article -- 1) they don't discuss the chart stats at all in the article, and 2) they don't back it up the article's title with any evidence and therefore are -assuming- that reporting is the reason for change. Honestly, this sounds like they are trying not to alarm people by providing (unlikely) reasoning. Campuses across the nation are debating the topic of concealed carry of weapons on campus, and legislators are listening. Those who choose to carry and have a state-issued permit should be granted their right to self-protection, just like they are virtually everywhere else in the state.
Reply to this Top
There are no stats or charts because the CT doesn't like using "figures" or "evidence." They prefer rumor and inuendo. Statistics require work, the CT doesn't work. They party!
Reply to this Top
First, note that the charts aren't on the online version, so I apologize if my comments are misinformed as a result. That said, I love the speculation in this piece. "People are more sensitive and aware, and are more willing to report." How do you know, Capt. Bradbery? Have you taken a survey of the campus community's willingness to report crime recently? Is there a pre-April 16 survey to use for comparison? Even more absurd is the notion that "when the community and the police work together, crime rates go down." Police are reactive. Cooperation with the police is more likely to increase conviction rates, not crime itself, unless there is a deterrent effect resulting from higher conviction rates. Also, chances are that the greater the police cooperation you have, the smaller the number of criminals you have in your community in the first place. Ken makes an excellent point as well. No matter how aware the police are, they are still always limited by time and resources. If you are being assaulted, pushing a button on the emergency box is a bit more of a crapshoot than cocking a weapon that you've been legally deemed worthy to carry.
Reply to this Top