<p>What's with all the crime at UMaryland? Everytime I look at the school newspaper there is another robbery,break in and /or stabbing? I am having second thoughts about this school. I know so many students who love it but it seems to have more of a crime problem than other schools of similiar size. The most recent incident involved a stabbing of a student by an employee of the school.</p>
<p>The recent one was some kind of altercation at the golf course restaurant between a student and a worker there, I believe. (still bad, but just so people don’t get the idea that random professors are stabbing their students during lecture). It’s a large university, and should be considered the same as being in an urban kind of environment. Most (NOT all) of the crime involves lack of common sense and/or too much alcohol. There was a story a couple months back about a student getting abducted and then raped while she was walking on campus. More to the story…she was completely drunk, walking home alone from the bars in the wee hours, and got into a stranger’s car when they stopped to offer her a ride. </p>
<p>Last year’s murder of Eve Carson in bucolic Chapel Hill, NC reminds us that bad things happen everywhere.</p>
<p>I agree with Astro…you need to put it into perspective. This is a university with 10’s of thousands of people. Take a small town with a population of 40K, and look at the crime rate, it will be on par with UMD…the campus is the size of a rural town. If you really are concerned about the crime…take a look at another very popular ACC school…Va Tech…which one do you think has a higher chance of crime…my bet is Va Tech…massacre 2 yrs ago and another shooting this past Dec. VA TECH is in a rural atmosphere,Blacksburg, compared to UMD which is 20 miles outside of DC and has a direct metro line to the campus! </p>
<p>Bullet graudated from UMD, I spent numerous weekends there over 4 yrs, I never felt unsafe on the campus. I have no concern for our DS, and if our DD went there in 10 I would be fine, however, she has VA TECH as her number 1 choice and I have more fears about her there than UMD</p>
<p>The saddest part of Eve Carsons death is the person that committed the murder also killed a DUKE student about 3 months earlier and Durham police did not connect the 2.</p>
<p>My D has been accepted to UM it was her first choice. However, I am also having second thoughts after looking at the number of incidents at UM involving robberies of students. I get that crime can and does happen anywhere , but Lizzy has a point UM has a LOT of crime and a lot of is violent. Look at Ucrime.com .</p>
<p>OK, there may be a lot of crime on campus, and even if you think its more than at comparable places, (which may or may not be true) if its your daughter’s number one school, don’t you think all the other numerous positives outweigh the likelihood that your daughter would be unsafe? I mean personally, I have only been here for a semester and a half, but I’ve never felt unsafe, and there isn’t enough time in the world for me to list all the other things i love about this school. So I think the trade off is totally worth it. But it’s up to you, I just think you have to look at the whole school, not one negative.</p>
<p>Sorry, mollterp, but parents don’t think that way; our kids’ safety is an issue that far outweighs most other things. D takes the bus at night from her parking garage to her dorm; last year when she was at Denton, she took the bus at night if she was at the Stamp, and/or didn’t travel alone at night on campus. She had a night class 1st semester of her freshman year, and I made her promise that she’d seek out someone in the class to walk her back to the dorm. (it was an honors seminar and there were several people headed back to Denton). They frequently take the Metro into DC, but usually it’s a group of people going together.</p>
<p>In the end, it really comes down to how you feel. If you’d be terrified, then UMD’s not the place to be, nor would I advise you to go into any urban setting. However, if you wouldn’t be a bit apprehensive anywhere else you go, you are not living in the real world. Heck, even back in the dinosaur ages in my no-name school that was surrounded by cornfields, we knew not to walk around at night by ourselves, and there were 2 or 3 rapes committed in the stairwell of our dorm before they found and arrested the guy.</p>
<p>My point is, use common sense, and realize that there are bad guys (and girls) everywhere… just be smart about things; it’s part of being an adult in today’s world.</p>
<p>I did some research on Ucrime.com. Thanks for the link. Here’s what I found out regarding reported crimes at some of the neighboring schools:</p>
<p>UMD-Enrollment of 26,431 had 74 crimes reported in the last 2 months.
Johns Hopkins-Enrollment of 4,744 had 24 crimes reported in the last 2 months.
American University-Enrollment of 6,311 had 30 crimes reported in the last 2 months.</p>
<p>If you compare the enrollment numbers to the number of reported crimes, UMD has a much lower crime rate than the other neighboring schools. Also, no one really knows how many crimes go unreported at any campus. It could mean that UMD encourages reports to be filed to increase awareness and alert security.</p>
<p>I do not think you can just look at raw numbers , but rather the type of crimes committed. Maryland has had several incidents involving peeping toms and robberies, some with guns. A lot of the crimes listed at schools like Penn State are alcohol related stuff like DUI’s and bar fights between students. While I realise any school will have those types of crime , I worry that students at Maryland seem to be the victims of violent crimes being committed by local residents. I agree you have to learn to be smart but that fact that campus safety was a major issue in the school elections suggests it is a significant problem.</p>
<p>I agree that if you are this apprehensive before even attending, imagine how you will feel once your child is enrolled!! It may not be the best fit because of it.</p>
<p>Seriously, you will find crime at every university, if you want to use crime as a reason not to attend go for it, but the reality is it is on every campus. As Jewel illustrated you must put the size of the campus into the factor</p>
<p>I think there a lot of the crime at Maryland occurs because most students come from suburban environments and think UMD is similar. You can’t really blame them: the rolling campus fields and quaint neighborhoods look a lot like any other town with good schools, lots of former yuppie couples with families, etc. However this is NOT the case. UMD is an urban school on the outskirts of DC, and walking alone in the wee hours of the night off campus is NOT safe in some areas. UMD is confusing in another way in that while some areas off campus are perfectly safe and actually quite well to do, some just down the street are more working class and attract more crime elements. So for somebody unfamiliar with the area, they might transpose the wealthy “historic” section of CP to all areas close to campus.</p>
<p>So, I think many of the crime situations are a case of wrong perceptions. Somebody in a city school sees the skyscrapers and the lack of campus and knows they could get mugged if they consume copious amounts of alcohol and wander around in the dark. Somebody at UMD assumes it’s just like their small hometown, where people leave their doors open at night. </p>
<p>Finally, many of the violent crimes which occur on campus are drug related. In fact I personally know the victims of several of the more shockingly violent crimes (ex. armed robberies) and they are all drug dealers. As far as I know, however, no students have ever been seriously injured in a crime, and I’ve read every single crime alert to come out for 2 yrs now (besides the aforementioned rape, which occurred when the victim got into a stranger’s car!!).</p>
<p>But that’s not to say you should just “shrug off” crime at Md. Since housing is such a huge problem and many people live off campus junior and senior years, finding affordable housing in safe neighborhoods (i.e. you can walk back from a club meeting at night safely by yourself) is very difficult. Be careful when searching for off campus housing and don’t assume every location is safe - even if the neighborhood where the house is seems nice, you must also factor in all of the areas you have to pass through to get there! That’s why before moving off campus it’s important to do some research into safest areas/where bus and/or nite ride travels/etc…I was recently looking into a house extremely close to campus and nearby a very popular student apartment complex, but then was informed by the current tenants that their house had been broken into twice in only four months (once over Christmas when “locals” knew students wouldn’t be around)…in addition, other friends in the neighborhood spoke up about their houses being broken into multiple times. We then asked a cop about what neighborhoods were safer and he made some recommendations. But astrophysics mom is a little overly cautious. I got off work at Stamp frequently past 1 am and always walked back to Denton alone. Now I walk back to La Plata from Stamp at night. I am a female, btw. Campus is pretty safe I’d say, even if it seems creepy at night since there is no one around…but always walk with a group just in case!! Off campus off the frat and sorority dominated streets can be sketchy at night, know your surroundings and DEFINITELY walk with a group in that case.</p>
<p>As far as daylight is concerned I’ve never felt unsafe ANYWHERE :].</p>
<p>Thanks umcp11 for your thoughtful and factual answer. Your response acknowledges that there is a crime issue in certain areas at night. You address exactly the problem I am concerned about: off campus housing. With the shortage of housing at UMCP ,it is probable that upper classman will be forced to move off campus. What are some off campus apartment buildings that are in safe areas and how much a month should a student expect to pay?
umcp11 makes an excellent point about knowing your surroundings.I also agree that some freshman may be naive about crime having come from sububan areas. I disagree with the attitude by some that crime happens everywhere and thus should not be a factor. I just want to know the facts about the area.</p>
<p>Today’s Diamondback reports " A 19 year old student was robbed at GUNPOINT last night as she sat in the backyard of a home on Rhode Island Avenue …" So much for the argument that attacks only happen when you are drunk or doing something stupid , unless working on your laptop outside in your own yard off campus is considered stupid.</p>
<p>you’re right, LizzyB…it was 8:30 pm. :(</p>
<p>Diamondback, reports 3rd robbery on campus in the past week. Freshman 09 you need to watch your back at this campus,be safe.</p>
<p>from Diamondback article…</p>
<p>"Prince George’s County Police are looking for five suspects in connection with the strong-arm robbery of a male student’s cell phone early Saturday morning. </p>
<p>About 3:15 a.m., the victim was talking on his cell phone in the parking lot of the McDonald’s across from University View when a man approached him and said, “Gimme that!” according to a university crime alert. When the victim refused to comply, four other men began punching him and took his cell phone. All five suspects fled from the scene on foot.</p>
<p>The victim suffered cuts to his forehead and a bloody nose and was treated at the scene. His injuries did not require transportation to a hospital."</p>
<p>I wish the boy a speedy recovery, and as a parents it is good reminder to tell our children nothing is worth the chance of bodily harm, and a cell phone def. ranks in that area.</p>