A New Look at University Crime - ucrime.com

UCrime.com offers listings of campus and city crimes for university students.

This image is a screen shot of the Chicago Crime Map I found on ucrime.com - a university/city based crime categorization Web site.

The idea for this post came to me from a comment I received on my blog - a man named Colin asked me if I'd seen this Web site: www.ucrime.com, and told me that they tracked crime on college campuses. I had never heard of the Web site before and decided to check it out, so I clicked on the link. Self-advertised as "the most comprehensive online source of crime information, [with] local maps, crime reports and classifications, [and] real-time interactive maps."

The Web site has listings for all 50 U.S. states and some universities in Canada, and includes crime maps, local statistics, and crime alerts. In Illinois, the university pages they include are: Bradley University, DePaul University, Illinois State, Loyola University Chicago, Northern Illinois University, Northwestern, Southern, SIU-Carbondale, Southwestern, UIC, and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. The Illinois link also has a larger "Chicago Crime Map" link. There, users can type in an address and put in a date range, and look for all of the following crimes, or select a few. The crime categories you can search for are: Arrest, Arson, Assault, Burglary, Robbery, Shooting, Theft, Vandalism, and Other. The categories have little icons as well, which I laughed at. For example, arson is a little flame, arrest is a tiny pair of handcuffs, assualt is a fist, burglary is a person in a ski mask, robbery is a person running with a bag, shooting is a viewfinder icon and vandalism is a little shield. I searched for crime near my home from January 30 - Feb 6, and found out that there was one instance of assault near my home - at DePaul's Sanctuary Residence Hall.

The DePaul Crime Map itself was pretty interesting - it had tabs for the different crime categories, and included things that happened at both the Loop and Lincoln Park Campuses.

In the last week, from 1/30 to 2/6/09 there was an arrest at the Sullivan Athletic Center and an assault at Sanctuary Hall.

The map offers a clean and clear way to see where things are happening in your area, and the little icons really help you focus in.

Users can also sign up to get crime reports about their campus or state.

In addition to the Crime Map, there are links to report a crime and a UCrime blog. The link I found most interesting was under "About Us." It said, "Do you want to be a crime reporter for your university?" and then offered a link to register your name and e-mail and write a message to the Baltimore, MD based site.

All in all, the site is an interesting, helpful look at crime. I'm still partial to The DePaulia's blotter, but for a different look, check out www.ucrime.com.

Decoding the Blotter

In order for DePaul students to keep track of the different crimes on campus - from which student dorms had people illegally smoking or drinking last night, to bigger incidents, like assaults or robberies on campus, the Public Safety Department puts together a weekly blotter.

I'm going to put it in here and explain it to you, but you can also check it out every week in The DePaulia, (DePaul's student run-newspaper for which I just happen to be the Two Cents Editor. Yep. Shameless plug, right there in my blog: Read our paper!)

Back to the blotter. On the Public Safety Web site, I was able to get a rundown of the crimes that happened last week in Lincoln Park:

January 28 Lot H Theft of Vehicle
January 28 1150 W. Fullerton Criminal Damage
January 28 University Hall Fire Alarm
January 29 S.A.C. Elevator Entrapment
January 29 900 W. Belden Suspicion of Marijuana
January 30 Munroe Hall Suspicious Activity
January 30 S.A.C. Criminal Damage
January 30 Sanctuary Hall Harassment
January 31 Byrne Hall Fire Alarm
*Reports are not all verified

Here's the Loop crimes:

January 28 DePaul Center Theft
January 28 DePaul Center Criminal Trespass
January 31 DePaul Center Retail Theft
*Reports are not all verified

The Web site just has a listing of all the crimes, but if you check out The DePaulia (comes out every Friday afternoon,) you'll find a fancy map of Lincoln Park with every building on campus and with crime listings for the week. Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner so I cannot show you what the blotter looks like - but to describe - a campus map with a key describing each building (i.e. library, Seton Hall, S.A.C.) and then a listing of crimes. Pretty nifty - and it helps keep you updated on what happened where and when.

For more serious alerts - like robberies at gunpoint or assaults, Safety Alert flyers are posted around campus - on dorms and buildings, these brightly-colored pieces of paper describe the incident, list a description of the offender if one was given, and offer contact information for who to contact at the police department should you have any information.

The Pocket-Sized Emergency Response Guide

That's it - actual size, just a few inches each way. It's the new DePaul emergency response guide - chock full of helpful information for emergencies.

Here is just a sampling of the information that you will find inside this handy little guide:

• Important phone numbers, like those for DePaul's public safety offices, DePaul Health Services, the Office of Students with Disabilities, University Counseling Services, Environmental Health, Facility Operations, Student Affairs and Housing Services


• Plans for what to do in case of an emergency, like for extreme threats of violence (i.e. person with a weapon), including plans for what to do if you exit or do not exit the building.


• Plans for severe weather emergencies


• Plans for bomb threats


• Plans for medical emergencies


• Plans for chemical spills (probably especially useful if you are spending a lot of time in the new McGowan Science Center)

The guide also offers information on DePaul's notification systems, like DPU Alert and the Message Board and Speaker System, information on fire safety, and some helpful acronyms - one of which I'll share with you:

C.A.L.M.

Call 911

Alert neighbors and public safety

Listen for instructions from first responders

Move to a safe area

So there you have it - a lot of info packed into a tiny guide. Pick yours up at any building on campus - the student center, a res hall, or the public safety office. You can also call Public Safety at 773.325.7777. or 312.362.8400 and ask where to get your copy.

Clearing Up the Clery Report

"The Clery Report? What's that?" Trust me, I hadn't heard of it either before I walked into DePaul's public safety office. It's a national Department of Education report, to go along with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, which are government acts that require that crime statistics be released to the public.

Here's a verbatim account of the history of the report from the Public Safety Web site: "Enforced by the Department of Education, The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act is a federal law and was originally known as the Campus Security Act. The Clery Act requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses."


DePaul calls their report the Safety and Security Information Report. In addition to the breakdown of crimes, DePaul's report also offers definitions of crimes, such as arson, robbery, aggravated assualt, burglary, and different designations and classifications for sexual offenses.

The report also includes information on how to report a crime, security awareness programs, campus security systems and university contact information.

Here are some of the highlights (or since they're crimes, I guess I should call them lowlights,) of the 2008 report:

15 burglaries
2 forcible sexual offenses (i.e. rape or assault)
43 incidents of drug abuse
15 arrests for drug abuse
There were 5 robberies on the Lincoln Park Campus and 25 on the Loop campus.

To pick up your own copy of the report, you can go the Public Safety office on the Lincoln Park or Loop campus. If you don't want to trek outside in the cold, and if you want to save a tree at the same time, you can download your own report by clicking on this link: http://publicsafety.depaul.edu/safety/index.asp




Basically, it's a list of all the crimes that happen on campus annually. For example, this

An eco-friendly, two-wheeled way to get...robbed?

In an effort to think warmer thoughts, (Ah, August afternoons spent at North Avenue beach!) I thought I'd write today's blog about a popular method of getting to and from classes here at DePaul - our good old trusty friend, the bicycle!



It provides an alternative to driving or taking public transportation, and is faster than walking on your own two feet, so a lot of students use them to get to class. (I have actually seen a few students biking in this freezing, snowy weather - kudos to you.)



But, says Bob Wachowski, bikes are one of the prime candidates to get stolen during the year. People don't lock up their bikes or lock them up improperly, and then your two-wheeled transportation is swiped once you get out of class. Wachowski says that bike theft is one of the most common crimes that is called into Public Safety each year, with 47 bikes being stolen last year.



The Web site http://www.howtofixbikes.com/ offered tips and tricks for keeping your bike safe, including not leaving it outside for long periods of time ( a null and void point when you've got a three-hour night class,) and buying an expensive lock - stating that you get what you pay for.



Good luck, and happy riding!

Lights, Action, Camera!

The newest addition to the DePaul public safety department is a blue-light camera, installed above the traffic light on the northwest corner of Fullerton and Sheffield Avenues.

The camera was installed by the Chicago Police Department, said Jim Marino, Public Safety's director for emergency management, "mainly to handle crime on the CTA," with the Red, Brown, and Purple lines being right there at the Fullerton station.

In addition to tracking CTA crime, the camera also helps Public Safety track DePaul crime. It extends north and west from its location, and east up until the "el" tracks, so there is a wide range of surveillance images the Public Safety office can capture.

So, next time you're on the corner of Fullerton and Sheffield, smile - you're on camera!

He Sees the Big Picture: DePaul's New Assistant Director of Emergency Managment

You notice four things about Jim Marino the first time you meet him:

1. He's from Chicago. His accent is unmistakable.

2. He's a former DePaul student. Within two minutes of meeting him, I learned Marino went to DePaul, and was on the basketball team in the seventies (#34.) His team photo is the only one without Ray Meyer in it - "The Coach" said the team was practicing lousy that day, and refused to be in the picture.

3. He's a proud dad. He wore a Navy sweatshirt on the day of our interview. When I asked him if he was a former serviceman, he said no, that his daughter was a Navy pilot, and proceeded to point out the pictures of her in his office and tell stories.

4. He knows what he's doing. A retired police officer with years in the Counterterrorism unit, Marino is definitely the guy to go to if DePaul was ever faced with a major emergency.

"This job was created, I think, due to what happened at Virginia Tech and Northern Illnois," said Marino, who bears the title of Assistant Director of Emergency Management, and has been working at DePaul for eight months. "My job is to create emergency plans and make assessments of buildings - how easy would it be for all of DePaul to get out of this building? How easy would it be for a bad guy to get in?" Marino also helps create plans for each individual office at DePaul, so they know what to do in case of an emergency. He hopes to create a Student Emergency Response Team in the next year - a group of students who would be trained in how to help in case of an emergency - make phone calls, block off streets, help faculty and staff with lockdown procedures, and help promote safety on campus through posters and conversations.

"My job, it's really to be the bad guy," says Marino. He says he inconveniences people, with his plans and what if scenarios. But really, "I see the big picture. You have to be prepared for anything to happen."