{"id":2483,"date":"2019-11-26T15:41:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=2483"},"modified":"2019-11-26T15:49:02","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T21:49:02","slug":"the-reality-of-campus-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2019\/11\/26\/the-reality-of-campus-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reality of Campus Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By: Tirzahsprigela Christopher &amp; Mathilda Bell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nov. 26, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How safe do you feel on campus?\" width=\"352\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lB8ZmG6C0jQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Students of Bradley University have received a few scares in the past month. It started on Oct. 26, with a report of an armed intruder on W. Fredonia Ave., which resulted in a campus lockdown. Three weeks later, on Nov. 13, a juvenile was arrested as they shot a handgun right outside of campus property. The most recent scare was just six days ago, Nov. 20. Someone left a note in a bathroom of Olin Hall, threatening violence in that building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some students believe they have reason to be fearful, and say campus is becoming more dangerous. Bradley University police officers have a different perspective, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chief of the Bradley University Police Department, Brian Joschko, gave his perspective on these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe statistics actually would show something different,\u201d Joschko said, as he was showing us data on campus crime from 2016 until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that necessarily campus is any safer\u2026 I\u2019d say it&#8217;s probably about the same as where it\u2019s been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joschko reported that the most common crime that occurs in the area are crimes of opportunity. This means unsecured and unattended property that gets stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEven then,\u201d he said, \u201cit\u2019s few and far between.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if campus crime is at a historically average level, why do students feel less safe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would never say that a student doesn\u2019t have a right to feel unsafe,\u201d Joshko said, \u201cBut especially once you compare us to other institutions and universities, I think that we bode well. Where we struggle, is oftentimes our perception of crime-related issues\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He explained that, \u201cAll it takes is one or two incidents, and it makes them [students] feel a little unnerved, especially when we don\u2019t have a high volume of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Universities are legally required to notify students when crime occurs, something uncommon to most other residential communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joschko said, \u201cA lot of it is that we tell people when there\u2019s crime, but you\u2019re not used to that. Very few communities out there tell you every single time there\u2019s a robbery. But universities have to do it. It\u2019s federal law. And so I think that ups peoples\u2019 anxiety a little bit. And so you just assume &#8216;Oh my goodness, I\u2019ve never heard of robberies until I came to college. It must be where I go to school is the problem.&#8217; When the reality is there [are] robberies that happen all the time in all sorts of communities\u2026. Those types of things happen. They just aren\u2019t necessarily newsworthy and so they don\u2019t get picked up in the media, and therefore most people don\u2019t have any idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joschko doesn\u2019t blame students for feeling wary, however. He reassured us that BUPD works hard to meet student\u2019s concerns and keep them safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn those events when it\u2019s a more serious type of incident, maybe it\u2019s a shots fired, maybe it\u2019s a robbery, maybe it\u2019s something along those lines. At that point then, we [BUPD] make a determination as to whether or not there is some sort of a continuing danger to the campus. And if the answer is yes\u2026 then that\u2019s when we make a determination that we need to provide notification out to the campus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If no one was arrested for the crime committed, then BUPD would&nbsp; send out an email to students. Joschko pointed out the difference between this, which he called a safety alert, and what he referred to as an emergency notification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said, \u201cThe safety alert is for that incident that\u2019s already happened, but there\u2019s still a continuing danger. We didn\u2019t catch the person, so we\u2019re providing information so that you can take appropriate steps to keep yourself safe. On the emergency notification side, that\u2019s Forewarn, we\u2019re providing you with&nbsp; instruction to take certain steps to keep yourself safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students received an emergency notification when campus was on lockdown for the armed intruder, and when the threat at Olin Hall was found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-26-at-10.00.47-AM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2484\" width=\"202\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-26-at-10.00.47-AM.png 670w, https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-26-at-10.00.47-AM-224x300.png 224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><figcaption>Bradley&#8217;s Forewarn texts sent to students.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Compared to other universities, Bradley actually compares well in terms of safety resources provided for students. Most universities don\u2019t even have a police department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joschko listed the Hilltop Safety Cruiser and walking escorts as tools students can utilize to keep themselves safe. There are also programs BUPD puts on for students, such as self-defense classes, and they offer emergency numbers to call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to stay up-to-date on campus crime, students can read Bradley\u2019s newspaper The Scout, which posts weekly crime reports. Students can also access a daily crime log on Bradley\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some of those resources provided by Bradley University:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Bradley University Police Department: (309) 677-2000<\/li><li>Hilltop Safety Cruiser: (309) 677-2800<\/li><li>Bradley Health Services: (309) 677-2700<\/li><li>Bradley Counseling After Hours: (309) 677-3200<\/li><li>Student Support Services: (309) 677-3140<\/li><li>Bradley University Crime Log: https:\/\/www.bradley.edu\/offices\/other\/police\/crimelog\/<\/li><li>The Scout: http:\/\/www.bradleyscout.com\/<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Tirzahsprigela Christopher &amp; Mathilda Bell Nov. 26, 2019 Students of Bradley University have received a few scares in the past month. It started on Oct. 26, with a report of an armed intruder on W. Fredonia Ave., which resulted in a campus lockdown. Three weeks later, on Nov. 13, a juvenile was arrested as they shot a handgun right outside of campus property. The most recent scare was just six days ago, Nov. 20. Someone left a note in a bathroom of Olin Hall, threatening violence in that building. Some students believe they have reason to be fearful, and say campus is becoming more dangerous. Bradley University police officers have a different perspective, however. Chief of the Bradley University Police Department, Brian Joschko, gave his perspective on these issues. \u201cThe statistics actually would show something different,\u201d Joschko said, as he was showing us data on campus crime from 2016 until now. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that necessarily campus is any safer\u2026 I\u2019d say it&#8217;s probably about the same as where it\u2019s been,\u201d he said. Joschko reported that the most common crime that occurs in the area are crimes of opportunity. This means unsecured and unattended property that gets stolen. \u201cEven [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":264,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/264"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2483"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2505,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483\/revisions\/2505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}