<p>Hi, I've heard a lot from my friends about how unsafe St Louis is. Can any current student shed some light on what the university has done to ensure safety of its students? Like Yale has its mini bus service. How about WashU?</p>
<p>There's been a few crimes lately- even a police officer was shot a few blocks away 3 weeks ago.
Still, I've never felt unsafe here at all- WashU isn't in downtown St. Louis. It's in this little wealthy suburb area.</p>
<p>WashU has a similar service you can call after dark (or really anytime, I guess) if you don't feel comfortable. And there's bluelights pretty much everywhere.</p>
<p>WashU gets scheduled service all day from the MetroBus system, as well. Those buses can get you to most off-campus apartments and shopping areas.</p>
<p>Before coming to WashU, I was also pretty worried about the safety issue. However, after coming here I feel that WashU campus is pretty safe and for the surroundings...just be smart. I personally think that UPenn area, Philly, is more dangerous than WashU's. Furthermore, about 80% or more of WashU students are out-of-staters...and we aren't really that worried about the safety on campus, so you also shouldn't be that worried. =)</p>
<p>Thanks everybody!</p>
<p>Yeah, I wouldn't be too concerned. At night I always see the police walking or riding around, and I definitely feel safe on campus at night. I mean, as long as you don't leave your door open with your laptop sitting there, you really aren't at risk. I don't know anyone personally who has had a problem on campus.</p>
<p>Recent articles in campus paper:
Student</a> Life - Student mugged at gunpoint near Greenway apts.</p>
<p>Hey, I'm not saying nothing ever happens. I was saying ON campus doesn't feel dangerous. Those things were off campus.</p>
<p>Don't be so confident, last year we had many crime situations on campus (South 40) from robberies to a sexual assault committed by an outsider. This year seems a little quiet.</p>
<p>From the articles, there seems to be a lack of adequate security measures by WUPD, and that it is not safe even in campus. Is that true?</p>
<p>I don't think there's any more danger on campus than at any other college - there's really no line to say you have <em>enough</em> security because "Every time it happens, ... people get shaken up and there’s a lot of talk about security."</p>
<p>Safety IS a serious concern if you're looking deciding on off-campus housing - there are certainly places in St. Louis where you would not want to live. However, my opinion is that the WUPD is doing a good enough job to say that it is "safe" on campus, as long as you stay out of dark alleys (and I don't think we have any of those...).</p>
<p>The biggest threat on-campus is theft, and the vast majority of criminals truly do not want to hurt anyone, they just want to steal a lot of "stuff". I do believe Wash U is seen as an easy target for many of these robberies. There seems to be no hesitation now for thieves to simply walk through any available campus buildings at any time of the day just looking for opportunities to snatch something. They know to dress like "college students" with backpacks so they can grab items, put them in a backpack and keep on going. So everyone just has to be careful all the time with laptops, iPods, cell phones, purses etc. Keep all doors locked, don't let strangers into "secured" areas, don't leave your stuff unattended in a public area etc. But a lot of that is just common sense and not to think of on-campus as being some perfectly safe, crime free haven.</p>
<p>wudude is spot on. The violent crime is truly minimal, and only in a handful of areas near (not on) campus. Truth be told, so long as one shows good judgment about when to go to certain areas and in what size group, there is no reason to be concerned for one's physical safety. But theft of property is always a potential problem if you leave things (mostly laptops, iPods, cell phones) out and unwatched. </p>
<p>Regarding housing, I would suggest that even most of the off-campus areas where students live (Waterman/Pershing, Washington Drive, ect) are pretty safe. The Loop least so, but ultimately not too bad.</p>