<p>I hear the campus at College Park is great, but I'm told that the area surrounding it is very unsafe. I will be visiting in March but would like to know, from students attending College Park, how safe is it? I would also like to hear what parents think.
I would appreciate any info and thank you in advance .</p>
<p>My son attends and I worry for his safety. You can follow the crime reports by checking out the daily online newspaper: The</a> Diamondback</p>
<p>Thank you worrywart. I've heard that if you stay on campus you're fine but if you venture outside the confines , you're looking for trouble.
Any other opinions from anyone else?</p>
<p>Related topic on the Johns Hopkins thread here at CC. Here are the links they provide, based on a READER"S DIGEST article on campus safety at different universities.</p>
<p>Campus security is a concern everywhere.....and moreso in any of the urban environments. Along with the fun and excitement of being in or near a big city, there are a lot more "dangerous" elements out there. UMD has shuttles that run at night that will drop you at the front of your dorm. The best advice is to keep your eyes open and not take things for granted. Way back in the dinosaur ages, I went to a university that was plunked in the middle of cornfields in Illinois. There were several on-campus rapes during the time I was there; I'm not sure that anyone should feel completely "safe" anywhere. As long as you keep your eyes open and are smart about it, you should be OK....</p>
<p>johnnyg~
i have heard from many sources that the town of College Park has/is going downhill and is not desirable. an older friend of ours said it wasn't nice there in his day and is so much worse now. my own d, when she was accepted was told by an actual student who called her to encourage her to attend , that the metro at night should be generally avoided, and NEVER be used alone. as far as location, College Park is not a city and not all that close/convenient to DC. it appeared sad and run down when we visited a few years back. actually many parts of DC might be considered safer. College Park seems poor and depressed. and yes, the campus is lovely, beautiful, actually but right on the main thoroughfare, and therefore an easy place to access; it's a moment away from 495.</p>
<p>College Park is not the most desirable location safety-wise, and anyone who tells you otherwise is blatantly lying.
HOWEVER, the vast majority of students will experience no danger while at the university. It is those students who don't exercise common sense when it comes to city living who suffer. To go on happycollegemom's example-- no, you do not take the Metro alone at 1 am. Why would anyone do that? Again, common sense. Stay in a group. If you find yourself separated from your friends in DC at a bar, and your cell phone dies, and you have no way to get home, spring for a $20 cab ride.
Even within the campus, there is a police escort phone number that you can call and have a UMD officer walk you somewhere. Unfortunately, some people don't take advantage of these services.</p>
<p>We're born with instincts for a reason, we just need to use them. It's not unsafe to live in College Park; it is unsafe to live in College Park without thinking about your surroundings.</p>
<p>To post from a crime report I received in my email while typing that:
"On February 24th at approximately 12:50 a.m. the student victim was involved in an altercation at the Santa Fe Caf</p>
<p>Any neighborhood in the country can have violent people in it. I'd worry about the security precautions in the dorms themselves, at any college - are the doors and first floor windows bolted; are key cards impossible to duplicate...do campus cops patrol, are security cameras used...</p>
<p>Yes, any neighborhood in the country can be dangerous but to ignore the fact that some are worse than others is ridiculous. College Park is going downhill fast. My relatives finally found jobs in other states and left.
On the other hand, those students I know there deal with the situation and are happy with their college choice.</p>
<p>Regarding dorm security, any talk of cameras being installed? Why no FT security? Any chance of requiring that ID be shown before entering the library?Why aren't dorm doors equipped with peepholes?
There seems to be a lot of FT University police present, but it doesn't seem to deter crime as the articles on DiamondBack show.
Can the university do more? Does anyone know if more is being done?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Regarding dorm security, any talk of cameras being installed? Why no FT security? Any chance of requiring that ID be shown before entering the library?Why aren't dorm doors equipped with peepholes?
There seems to be a lot of FT University police present, but it doesn't seem to deter crime as the articles on DiamondBack show.
Can the university do more? Does anyone know if more is being done?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Cameras aren't installed in res halls due to privacy issues. Most of the crime that the Diamondback reports is off-campus and therefore PG County jurisdiction. IDs are required to enter the libraries after certain hours; otherwise it is a public library. Also, peep holes are being installed on dorm doors--I know La Plata Hall has them on every door.</p>
<p>The university knows that safety is one issue that is keeping it from being top-tier, so I'm assuming more is in the works.</p>
<p>Dorm security isn't an issue here any more than it is at other campuses. Our residence halls all have swipe access to both the general building AND the elevator (or hall door if it's the first floor), as well as key entry to the room. If students don't use common sense and leave their doors unlocked, another resident could steal their belongings. Strangers don't force their way into students' rooms. It's not as if we have random people from the surrounding area wandering through the dorms. The residence halls are very safe.</p>
<p>Here is a site you may want to check this out:</p>
<p><a href="http://ope.ed.gov/security/InstDetail.asp%5B/url%5D">http://ope.ed.gov/security/InstDetail.asp</a></p>
<p>CMM731- very alarming stats from the link you give.
On campus forcible sex offenses : in 2004 9, 2005 27, in 2006 31. No data given for 2007.
On campus burglaries : in 2004 115 cases, 2005 101, 2006 202. No data for 2007.
The data above shows that things got worse not better. I wonder what the 2007 data is for the above.</p>