The University of Memphis is named one of the safest colleges in the state, a label that may be a bit misleading when including the surrounding area.
Despite efforts of The U of M police services, very few students attended the annual safety meeting on campus last week that revealed some important topics.
Police services reported a drop in crime on campus, but the numbers didn't take into account the growing number of disturbances in off-campus housing and organizations like fraternity houses and religious groups.
"The Memphis Police Department has a web crime tracker...and I actually do use it in some of my presentations and tell the parents (of U of M students) that you can go out and look and they will have it for the last 30 days," said Bruce Harber, director of police services at The U of M. "You can look at any crime for a quarter-mile, half-mile, and maybe up to a mile around an area."
The Memphis Police Department's Web site indicates a crime rate five times The University's in a half-mile radius around campus.
After noticing the increase, police services started two new programs to help reduce off-campus crime. They first teamed up with the MPD to create Community Police Problem Solving Initiative (CoPPS), which will increase patrolling in areas close to campus.
"Safety on campus is important but it's also important to have safe neighborhoods that surround The University as well," said Shawn Hicks of the MPD. "We went to all the neighborhood association meetings that are surrounding the campus area and basically just let them know who we are, what we are doing, and collected input from them on how to make them feel safer."
CoPPS has been designed for students living around The University of Memphis area in hopes that the community will take a stand against the increased crime rates.
"We want to help target things and want this to be a very active program," Harber said. "They are actually out doing things and sending information back to pinpoint what the main problems are to fix."
Although these new programs have been in session for over two months, some students have yet to see the progress.
"Since the MPD and University police services have joined forces, I have not noticed anymore patrolling around my complex," said Rachael Harris, a nursing major.
Additional changes have been made to try to make campus a little safer with the addition of alert flags on parking towers. These flags will be raised, along with a blue light, when someone is on duty in the tower. There are also 285 web cameras in the parking lots to help watch for thieves, officials said.
More safety plans are on the drawing board, but budget adjustments must be made before anything becomes official.
