<p>Hey guys, I currently live in NY but I used to live in MD up until 5th grade. I was highly considering UMD, but due to the fact that it is the #1 crime school in the entire nation, my parents don't want me going there. My mom keeps in contact with friends from MD, and they've said that crime on the campus has gotten out of hand, and that it really isn't safe. Is this true to an extent, or is it a partial fabrication?</p>
<p>the school is huge. i mean, yeah i admit, it had been a little strange cuz it happened left and right for a while but...it's really not as much as it seems. if you're unsafe, it could happen ANYWHERE. it mostly happens near off campus..in fact it practically is off campus on route 1. the campus itself is safe..if ur not alone w/ a group of people, the chances of anything happening t YOU is very very slim..to none. if you decide to walk on route 1 at 1 am...even the chances of anything happening to you is slim but it's just stupid. so yeah, a lot of schools are in dangerous places. look at upenn...yale..etc., etc. so cp isn't as bad as it is. i'm totally safe sitting here on campus in my dorm, lol</p>
<p>Yeah, I know it's a big campus and all, but is there a theft problem also? Have you or anyone you know had anything valuable stolen?</p>
<p>no, my friend is in the dance team and she keeps her stuff like, in this locker and one time this person took 40 bux from her wallet..but..this could happen anywhere. in fact, it happened in my high school. so yeah, general stuff happens but other than that i feel pretty safe..i just don't go out alone at 1 am, off campus</p>
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it is the #1 crime school in the entire nation
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<p>where exactly are you getting this figure from? Sure it's unsafe, but that statement seems to be a bit of an exaggeration. </p>
<p>Besides, any school in a decently sized city will be unsafe.</p>
<p>the figure is from the FBI, however, their numbers are a little skewed in the first place with how they are comparing various schools. (there was an article in the diamondback about it.)</p>
<p>your mom's friends are incorrect. crime ON CAMPUS is virtually nonexistant. recently, crime OFF-CAMPUS has been an issue. if you stick with a group of people at night, crime is NEVER an issue. if you look at the UMD police website, you can see all the crime alerts that have been sent out recently. note that all of them (except the most recent, which had a drug/money-related motive) happened to students walking alone late at night.
crime has increased, yes, but if you use the same common sense as ever, you will be just fine. don't walk alone at night, lock your door when you aren't in your room, etc.</p>
<p>i have only felt unsafe once since being here and that was because i was stupid walking much farther out than route one with just two other people. But in the end nothing happened. I don't go off campus unless it is the weekend and there are many people outside so i don't ever feel unsafe and i go in groups of people. Just once i went too far down route one looking for something but i was with a big group of people so i felt fine. </p>
<p>Like lindz said, crime on campus is not an issue at all. </p>
<p>This past weekend i felt fine walking around at 3 am. I can't see myself being in any type of danger unless i put myself into it.</p>
<p>I'm a female student living on the side of campus nearest Route 1. I feel incredibly safe in my dorm. You have to swipe to get in the door. Then once inside, you have to swipe to get in a wing where the dorm rooms are and then you have a key to your room. Since my roommate and I both have laptops, we usually keep the room locked when one of us is not there - and we both invested in kensington locks for our laptops that "scream" if the cable is cut with wirecutters. Frankly that was overkill - but it made my Mom feel better. I don't hang out too much on route 1 - where most of the reported crime seems to happen - but when I do come and go to College Ave or to the frats to party - and come back late at night - we use the bus - or if there is a group of 5 or 6 of us, we may walk. Last Friday night, I walked from my dorm to a friends dorm at about 3 am and there were 100's of kids out and about on the campus. </p>
<p>On the other hand - I simply don't walk alone after dark. On some occasions, I have called guy friends from my dorm to come get me and a few of them will walk to escort me home. Last Sunday, I rode the bus from Comcast Center to my dorm since the basketball game ran til 9:15 or so - felt completely safe - waited for and got on the bus with a few dozen students in front of Comcast and got off 25 well-lighted feet from the door to my dorm - and within full view of a campus security camera.</p>
<p>If you do what they say - don't walk alone and be aware of your surroundings and don't go stupid places - especially by yourself or with just a few girls - you're fine - i haven't heard of anybody having a problem ON campus - which is amazing when you consider the campus community is larger than many U.S. cities!</p>
<p>show your Mom this stuff and tell her they are standard stats that every campus compiles and do some reasearch on the other schools you're interested in and show here the difference:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.umpd.umd.edu/brochure/CRIME.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.umpd.umd.edu/brochure/CRIME.htm</a></p>
<p>Saturday was stupid because i guess there were gun carrying people running around the college area of college park. It hurt my night because i went to a house and we were headed to another house of the people i was with and they wanted to wait a while. When we did end up going there were like 8 cop cars and dogs barking on this one street, so i guess something happened there. Maybe there will be some info in today's diamondback. I didn't really feel unsafe but people running around with guns in my immediate area is just an annoying thought. I was with a big group with about 15 so nothing was going to happen.</p>
<p>update to cheapseats' post: the crime alert sent out today said that PG county police took custody of the 4 people (it was a robbery, not just people running around with guns, haha) "within minutes" of whatever happened -- probably why there were so many cars out.</p>
<p>the "crime spree" going on a few weeks ago has definitely died out, anyway. this was the first incident in a while.</p>
<p>The other thing of note was that the incident was not "on campus" - </p>
<p>We were out and about on campus Saturday after the Dashboard Confessional concert. Campus was full of people - it was Saturday night after all - and we were around and between parties until the wee hours - no problems noted nor concerns. </p>
<p>One of the things that campus safety peple emphasize is that thugs aren't all stupid - they know they can target kids moving between or coming home from parties on the other side of route 1 - away from campus - because some of the kids have indulged too much and can't even feel their extremities :> let alone be particularly aware of their surroundings. Although I have noticed an increased police presence around College Avenue - I am aware that I'm walking through areas that are not really well lit and certainly not in the view of the campus security cameras.</p>
<p>So for folks not familiar with the campus - you should know the campus itself feels pretty secure - heading off campus and to the other side of Route 1 means a certain amount of risk-taking - but if all else fails - the campus bus system is usually around to hop on for a ride back to campus.</p>
<p>When I was looking at schools, I visited several in major metro areas and came away thinking they were nice during the day - but when the lights go down in the city (haha) its a different story. For example, in Philadelphia, U Penn, Drexel, and Temple are each great schools in their own way - but nightime around the campuses gave me the absolute creeps when it came to safety - U Penn for example has some nasty stats for on campus rape - not date rape which is bad enough but avoidable - but crime show rape where the guy jumps out of the bushes. Drexel is literally part of the urban landscape - there's not really a green campus. And Temple lives inside a barbed wire barrier.</p>
<p>I say this because if you want to hide from crime - go find a school removed from any urban life and hide there - say Penn State (my second choice school last year) - beautiful campus - great school - but in the middle of absolute nowhere. I chose UMCP over Penn State because it had all the advantages of a big state school plus the advantages of a great city a stone's throw away with all kinds of amazing cultural opportunities. Unfortunately in our culture - a big city within shouting distance means crime can be a problem - but thats the real world - there are trade offs - and all things considered, I think they do a good job managing safety ON campus and if we choose to go off campus - that's our prerogative and our risk-taking choice.</p>
<p>Besides - who wouldn't want to be a Terp (espec this year - poor PSU and Joe P.) - I haven't missed a bball game yet - building up those points for when the ACC comes to town, and the football games have been a hoot - thank God VT beat Wake and kept us in the game - come on Orange Bowl! My alumni dad actually purchased advance tix in case Terps beat the odds and go - says its his chance of a lifetime - and if Sam can just stop trying that pitch play maybe we can make it.</p>
<p>Maybe Sam needs campus police on the field to protect him against a blitz!</p>
<p>excellent post GGT</p>
<p>To all those who attend... I remember when my bro showed me around the place he took me to that strip mall by the side(the one with the chipotle, starbucks) and i was just wondering if that area is safe because it seemed like the one place to get food - unless there are more places to eat around the area that I'm not aware of. Also, how late is too late to be safe? Say I just wanted to walk within the campus surroundings at like 9:00-10:00, will i be mugged(lol)?</p>
<p>Thanks! I just think that this issue can get way overblown. My Mom was freaking out with the FBI report - but once she talked to other parents and has been assured that I am reasonable and cautious - she chilled out. I mean she went to U Penn and lived off campus in Philly when Rizzo was having shoot outs with drug dealers on the streets in the 70's - that makes College Park look good in comparison.</p>
<p>The Starbucks is in the little shopping center where there is a Noodles and a Cold Stone and a CVS - as well as a WaWa. One of the university bus stops is right there - so we often head down late at night to grab food at WaWa and now that its getting colder - we ride the bus - especially in the early hours. They did have an incident there earlier this year but have beefed up patrols - in the last month, every time i've been there - the police presence is very noticable. </p>
<p>I don't walk campus alone after dark - but I'm not umcomfortable when I'm with another person or two. I found that if i get "stuck" somewhere else on campus - or if I want to go over to Comcast or somewhere and the bus is a pain - there are guys in my dorm who are happy to come get me or walk me someplace - people are just nice like that - especially when I have extra mealpoints and they're running out - what goes around comes around - just feed 'em :>. I also found that when u register - they will dissuade females from registering for late labs that will run after dark. So its all good - no worries here. Now if I can just pass my Chem final - life will be good.</p>
<p>sagarmatha-- you're right, that is one of the main places for students to walk to get food on route 1. it actually is really safe...like GGT said, the police are always there. late at night (like 2 am) after the bars close, wawa is packed and there are at least 3 cops outside. the usual "trouble" occuring around that strip mall is drunken post-bar fighting, i'd imagine.</p>
<p>also in the shopping center is a boston market, and a walkway which gives a quick shortcut to the applebees and kinkos across the street.</p>
<p>going with the food theme, across route 1 from the shopping center you're talking about are a few more places for a quick bite to eat-- quiznos, samurai sams, south street steaks, insomnia cookies, as well as the bars (which are restaurants during the day/evening) and a little further down the street is subway, shanghai cafe, and smoothie king.</p>
<p>lots of food options on route 1 :D</p>
<p>From the Diamond back today:</p>
<p>"Peeping tom"</p>
<p>Great.... more rape attempts, more violence.</p>
<p>Gosh, I am so scared out of my mind!</p>
<p>I really want to apply to maryland next year, but I am so scared of living there!</p>
<p>I am pretty sure a peeping tom can happy about anywhere. But in all honesty consider it. If you actually get scared hearing this stuff, CP might not be the place for you. Really I have never felt unsafe but one time but thats just me.</p>