Collegiate Times

The safety of a college campus is primarily dependent of its location. For example, Virginia Tech?s crime rate is significantly lower than that of universities in metropolitan areas such as New York City or Washington D.C. because it is located in an area where the crime rate is much lower. However, this is not to say that crime does not happen on campus.

At Tech, most crimes are simple larceny and alcohol-related offenses. In 2004, 53 burglaries were reported, 41 of those taking place in campus residence halls. This is an increase from the 2003 report of 31 burglaries, only 15 of which were reported in the residence halls. Many students fear larceny in the residence halls.

?I am most vulnerable to theft,? said Alan Hicks, a freshman business major. ?I constantly worry about accidentally leaving my door open and getting my laptop stolen.?

There is a way to prevent theft in the residence halls, said Virginia Tech Police Officer Geof Allen of Tech?s Community Outreach Unit He said the most effective way to avoid theft is by taking ownership.

?They need to call in someone who is destroying their property, or lock their doors,? said Allen. ?By doing this, (students) can lower the crime rates around the campus.?

Police also recommend students lock up their valuable belongings within dorm rooms to decrease the chances of them being stolen in the event a door is left open or unlocked.

The other common crimes that occur at Tech are alcohol-related offenses. These include being intoxicated in public, underage drinking and other crimes that result from the consumption of alcohol.

?Alcohol is associated with 90 percent of all crime,? said Steven Clarke, director of the Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center. In 2003, 203 judicial referrals were handed out as a result of liquor law violations. In 2004, that number more than doubled as 549 referrals were issued. Two other crimes are noted on campus ? rape and sexual assault. According to a study conducted by the Department of Justice, a school the size of Virginia Tech is expected to have, on average, a total of 350 sexual assaults per year.

?This is a catastrophic number considering we only had seven last year,? Allen said.

However low the statistics were for reported sexual assaults on campus last year, sexually-based crime is extremely difficult to account for because it is the most under-reported crime, he said. Every year, over 100 programs take place on campus to encourage students to report these crimes. Because rape and sexual assault are two of the most feared crimes, many preventative techniques have been developed. ?You shouldn?t put drinks down at parties, or allow other people buy you drinks,? Allen suggests. This can lead to date rape and can easily be avoided. Second, he suggests, ?You should travel in groups and know your areas.?

Finally, Virginia Tech offers a class free to all females on campus called Rape Aggression Defense. This self-defense class consists of twelve hours of learning how to recognize an attack, how to avoid it, resist it and how to escape.

Whatever crime may happen on campus or in the residence halls, many students feel Tech is a secure campus.

?I like that the doors are locked at night. Locked doors ensure that no one who shouldn?t be in the dorms will be there to commit a crime. When the cops come through the halls at night, I like knowing that we are all okay,? said Lauren Dendis, a freshman chemistry major.