How crime alerts affect students' perception of campus safety

By Donna Baeck

Students at the University of Minnesota received a crime alert for an attempted kidnapping on Feb. 18 via SAFE-U, the school’s mass notification text messaging system. 

The university began to use the new alert system in the beginning of the academic year to notify students about the incidents more frequently, according to the MN Daily. Some students barely read the recurring crime alerts and others feel the campus is more unsafe.

Justin Niska, a junior at the university, said he doesn’t always read the crime alerts thoroughly and still feels safe walking around on campus late at night.

“Typically my gender is the one who is committing these crimes. I’m also a pretty big person so I know most people wouldn’t mess with me.” Niska said. 

Students who still felt safe after reading the alerts said the likelihood of the crime happening to them seemed slim because the campus is so large. 

The crime alerts describe kidnappings, robberies and other incidents that can be alarming to read. 

Diane Tam, a freshman, said she only felt safe walking around on campus during the day and was much more aware of her surroundings at night. She tries not to have her headphones in both ears if she’s walking home alone. 

“People always know I’m out before I go somewhere due to the recent reports.” Tam said.

The university offers several resources such as free ride services like Gopher Chauffeur and security guards to walk students home late at night.

Students think campus security could do more to make the university feel more safe. They suggested security guards could be more visible and patrol different areas of the school at night. 

“Why buy a security camera when you can buy a sticker that says I have a security camera?” said Ian Colson, a student at the university. He said people would instinctively feel more safe if they saw more security guards when they walked around campus.