<p>I've heard a lot of stories like this happening at night: Crime</a> Scene - U-Md. students warned after muggings</p>
<p>So there's two questions.
A) Does that limit the safe night life?
B) Does that sort of thing happen in the day-time?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>This question occurs every yr. Let’s look at the facts from WaPo
</p>
<p>2 a.m off campus in college park, yes it is unsafe! Than again, CP is an urban town. It is as safe as being off campus at Columbia University at 2 a.m., or UPenn or Duke. </p>
<p>This is a large campus in an urban community. If you don’t think crime occurs, I have a great bridge to sell you in NY. HOWEVER, if you place the number of UMDCP students and the amount of crimes committed against them you would realize that it is a safe campus.</p>
<p>The campus has emergency contacts everywhere, but once off campus, that is not in their power.</p>
<p>Questions of crime level off campus irks me. Yeardley Love’s parents never thought she would be killed by a UVA student. VATech parents never questioned crime before the shootings. Eve Carson’s parents never thought their child would be murdered when they sent her to UNCCH. It happens everywhere. Life in part is also fate. You cannot live in a bubble, and even if you do, if it is your time it is your time. </p>
<p>CP is not a town you want your child wandering at night, but fearing the crime of the town, means you have yet to realize that the university is not College Park, it just happens to be located in College Park, they are 2 different aspects.</p>
<p>USE COMMON SENSE AT NIGHT AND YOU WILL BE FINE. Walking off campus at 2 a.m., even in a group places you in a bad way. Honestly, there is no reason to be walking off campus at that hour.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it’s true: you can’t ever take enough precautions to totally, 100% reduce the chance of crime against you. Stay on campus at 2am? Most juniors and seniors live off campus. Walk in a group? Well, as you can see, 2/3 attacks occurred on a group of students. The vast, vast majority of these incidents DO NOT occurr in the daytime. However, in my career at MD, I do recall 1 or 2 crime alerts in the early evening or afternoon. </p>
<p>In my four years at MD I have never been a victim of crime and I have never felt unsafe walking home to my off-campus group house at night. Maybe it’s a false sense of security - I know a handful of personal friends and acquiantances who weren’t so lucky. </p>
<p>I think many students ARE lured into a false sense of security, because of the beautiful campus, suburban community surrounding it, and high student population. But the truth is CP is more urban than most people realize, just a stone’s throw from a metro stop, only 15 minutes to U Street, H Street, and DC in general. Popular student housing complex Parkside is located in College Park’s Lakeland neighborhood, a wonderful historic place but also home to subsidized housing - right across from the “M” entrance to campus. Neighboring cities Beltsville, Hyattsville, Langley Park are not Bethesda or Potomac. They are working class neighborhoods.</p>
<p>The false sense of security and cluelessness of suburbanite students means there’s easy targets.</p>
<p>Does that mean you are LIKELY to be a victim of crime? No. The vast majority of CP students go four years without encountering an incident.</p>
<p>Does that mean it’s always POSSIBLE, even if you’re not a clueless dimwit? Yes. </p>
<p>That said, you can do things to dramatically reduce the chances of crime on you. And you can do things to dramatically reduce the impact if you ARE a victim of crime. Avoid walking around late at night, and if you do, stay to populated and lit areas as much as you can. Avoid becoming so intoxicated that you become a target. Don’t flash expensive jewelry, iPods, etc. around. Walk in groups. Only carry as much cash as you need. DO NOT resist, which dramatically reduces the chance of injury to you. Etc. </p>
<p>If you aren’t into being street smart, then another university is probably a better choice…but you can’t really live your life in fear. For me, the urban location of CP was worth the higher rate of off-campus crime than some other super suburban or rural schools might encounter (I maintain that on-campus is EXTREMELY safe, with a sophisticated network of security cameras and near constant patrols). If I couldn’t escape into DC every now and then I’d think I’d really go crazy. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring Langley Park and Hyattsville…they’re not the type of cities I’m used to. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have quirks and charms I can’t appreciate. I’m very thankful CP is where it is, crime or no crime.</p>
<p>So, it’s up to you. Even the students who gotted mugged were just less a cellphone and some cash. I know at least one of the students who was a victim and I know he/she does not regret his/her choice to go to MD because of that incident. You can pick a school in a bubble, if that’s really what’s important to you. Or, you can learn to deal with some elements that are a reality for a lot of people and a lot of places. You can say I’m going to stay in my super safe upper class suburban village and rule out everything outside of the comfort zone you’re used to - or you can say I’d love to visit Philly, NYC, Peru, Nicaragua, whatever. Sometimes the experience is worth the “risk” ;). And the “risk” in CP is not as high as the risk for many other worthwhile ventures…</p>
<p>Our DS last yr live in New Leonardtown, and at night when he walked home alone, he called us, use your smarts. </p>
<p>I have to say as a female, it is common sense, for a guy, they don’t think about their surroundings, girls have all of their senses going, be it UMDCP or the parking lot in your hometown.</p>
<ul>
<li>New Leonardtown is a UMDCP resident hall on the opposite side of route 1.</li>
</ul>
<p>well stated (as usual) umcp11</p>
<p>The only crime I heard about on campus that was not very late and in front of a residence hall (Ellicott) was a young man (I don’t think he was even a student) who arranged to meet two people from Craigslist in front of the ATM to buy an iPhone from them. He was already carrying TWO iphones. He told the two men this, then turned to get money out of the ATM, big surprise, the two guys hit the third, took his money and both iPhones. I saw the guy afterwards walking back. He was okay, he just had a blood lip and was mourning the loss of the three iPhones.</p>
<p>Everything about the situation was just not smart. So it didn’t make me feel any less safe even though it occurred just in front of my building. This was just someone being completely stupid. </p>
<p>Everything else that happened was off campus or in a very secluded part. Someone was walking alone, usually after two in the morning and they weren’t near blue light phones or areas of campus where people would be.</p>
<p>It’s actually a running joke that every single crime alert contains a perpetrator who is a tall black man. Whenever someone isn’t a tall black man everyone is talking about it for days. </p>
<p>Also, it is worth to note that two days before this article came out everyone on campus received an email from the campus police that someone has been sending out crime alerts for CRIMES THAT NEVER OCCURRED.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks for your thoughts!</p>
<p>I’ve never had a problem with safety around CP, the town or the campus. CP is not a dangerous place at all (it’s not like you’re in HARLEM). It’s a fine suburban area. Obviously crime could happen anywhere that goes without saying but CP is a very safe area and is beautiful.</p>