By Scott Harvey
Commerce – The University Police Department at A&M-Commerce has released its crime statistics for the 2007 calendar year. Under the Federal Clery Act, all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs are required to disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses.
Types of offenses are placed into 10 different categories: Murder, manslaughter, forcible and non-forcible sex, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, arson, motor vehicle theft and hate crimes.
31 total offenses were reported on campus in 2007, with 22 of those crimes taking place in campus housing. That compares to 22 on campus and 20 in housing in 2006, and 39 on campus and 26 in housing in 2005.
Burglary was the most common crime, with 23 total reported offenses on campus, 14 of which took place in campus housing. Only 16 total burglaries were reported in 2006, compared to 31 in 2005.
The other spike in crime was seen in aggravated assaults, with five reported offenses last year, all taking place in campus housing. One aggravated assault was reported in 2006, and none were reported in 2005.
The decrease comes in reported motor vehicle thefts, with none reported in 2007. Both 2006 and 2005 had three such thefts reported. To view the full report, visit www.tamu-commerce.edu/upd/reports/2007stats.pdf
UPD Chief Donna Spinato says having the department's 16 certified officers frequently patrol campus proves to be an effective method in combating crime.
''One of the things that we do on our campus is we get the officers out of the car, we put them out into the campus community,'' says Spinato. ''Just visibility of the officers many times prevent burglaries and different crimes that occur on our campus, so we're continuing to do programs such as that.''
Other programs and preventative measures include providing tips and brochures to faculty and students that document how to combat burglaries, as well as an active shooter training course currently being offered to faculty and staff. The course will soon be available to students.
Crime Information Officer Jason Bone says it's also important that the community also have an active role in combating crime. He says community policing is more stressed because it's a campus environment, and it's important for the community to be comfortable with officers so that they'll be more inclined to report any suspicious activity.
Spinato says the spike can be attributed to a number of factors, including an individual's economic status and the challenges they may currently be facing; crime also tends to occur during specific dates during the year.
UPD tends to get more reported burglaries during the Christmas season, or right before a long break or the end of a semester. According to Spinato, students are sometimes too eager to get home and will forget to put things away and items are left easily accessible to others. Also toward the end of semesters, students are advised to keep a close eye their textbooks, as some reports indicate they are being stolen for buy back purposes.
Crime Information Officer Jason Bone says a lot of those burglaries could probably be avoided.
''A lot of that is probably carelessness on some people's parts,'' says Bone. ''It's move out time or they're stressed over finals and they leave the laptop laying out because they were distracted or had just stacked this stuff up in the hallway because they were getting ready to load it up and forget and leave it unattended.''
When comparing the figures of A&M-Commerce with departments around the county based on similar size and enrollment, Bone says it's very difficult to get an accurate comparison.
''When you try to benchmark you're not taking into account geography,'' says Bone. ''For instance, A&M-Corpus Christi is an Island, whereas A&M-Commerce is in the middle of town. Often times we are a shortcut for someone walking between point A to point B, whereas A&M-Corpus Christi - you're not getting on the island unless you're a student or work there, so it's very difficult to do an actual straight-line comparison.''
In relation to combating and informing the university community of any crime or event taking place, A&M-Commerce faculty, staff and students are all encouraged to participate in the university's Pride Alert Warning System (PAWS).
Roughly 7,400 individuals are currently enrolled in the mass notification program, which is capable of voice, email and text message delivery of emergency messages. In the event of a campus emergency, all participants in PAWS will receive direct notification of the situation along with instructions. Students can sign up online through the MyLeo portal, while employees are automatically signed up through HR Connect. All participants are asked to keep their information updated so you can be properly informed.