Concerned by unusually high Central Campus crime statistics for this academic year, representatives of the Duke University Police Department said they have increased patrols in the area and are making an effort to inform residents about how best to protect themselves and their neighbors.
This year's crime activity includes three vehicle thefts, 11 apartment break-ins and two armed robberies of food delivery workers through March 25.
John Dailey, East Campus community officer for DUPD, said the comparitively low number of suspicious people reported on Central Campus could have contributed to the high crime rate. Only nine suspicious people were reported on Central Campus this academic year compared to 37 reported on East Campus.
"We wouldn't necessarily expect there to be more suspicious people on East Campus." The increase may show, Dailey said, that many suspicious people simply are not being reported and therefore not investigated.
Charles Nordan, DUPD patrol commander, said he feels Central Campus' open atmosphere makes the area a likely target for crime, in contrast to West Campus, which is buffered on all sides from city streets by several blocks of campus, and East Campus, which is encircled by a brick wall. "It's very easy for someone to just turn off one of the main streets of Durham and end up on Central Campus," Nordon said.
Dailey gave a similar assessment. "I think some people from the city may look at Central Campus and not realize that it's part of the University," he said. "We get a lot more solicitors there, for example."
Trinity junior Harry Hutchinson, Duke Student Government Central Campus legislator, said he considers the crime problem adequately serious-especially after a recent incident in which a neighbor was accosted by a panhandler-to warrant DSG's attention. "It's a scary situation for students on Central Campus," he said.
But despite the problems, some students who live on Central Campus said they were not overly concerned about its dangers. Trinity sophomore Andy Elders said he feels much safer on Central Campus than he had expected to. "When I first got here, I thought it might be dangerous," he said, "but I really haven't had any problems. I've never so much as seen anyone strange or scary-looking in the area."
Dailey added that Central Campus tends to be more isolated and vulnerable than a dormitory. "You're not in a hall situation, and you're not seeing other residents every day," he said. "I'm not sure [Central Campus] has the same sense of community that East Campus and West Campus have."
Dailey said a lack of community frequently translates to residents who are unable to recognize potential threats. "The more sense of community an area has, the more likely people are to report suspicious activities and be able to notice when something is out of place or someone doesn't belong there," he said.
Nordan said DUPD has increased patrols on Central Campus and is embarking on an effort to increase residents' awareness of crime. Dailey said DUPD has received a number of reports of suspicious individuals on Central Campus who knock at residents' doors and ask for help or use of the phone.
He recounted a similar incident at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in which a woman allowed an unfamiliar man into her car after he asked for help, resulting in an assault."Our concern would be that something like that may eventually happen here," he said.
In such cases, Dailey continued, residents should call the police and not allow the individual into their apartments.," he said.
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