<p>It started with people being held up at gunpoint at 3 in the morning, then turned into students being mugged earlier and earlier and closer to campus, getting mugged in their cars, getting mugged by groups, etc. Now somebody was held up at gun point INSIDE a campus building, at four friggin' pm when campus is busy with people taking their finals. They send out these "crime alerts" whenever a mugging happens, and it seems like there is a new one each day either within spitting distance of campus or now on campus itself. You would have thought that "gun-free zone" sticker on the front of the building would have had SOME effect, right? Right......?</p>
<p>For those who don't know, Ohio State University is not in some picturesque suburban neighborhood, it's in the inner city.</p>
<p>I was curious to hear whether OSU is unusual or if all you other peeps were seeing a spike in this type of crime on your campuses, and what types of neighborhoods your campuses are in. Lot of crime going on where you are?</p>
<p>The OSU admins are under a lot of criticism from students right now. The argument is that not nearly enough is being done about adequately policing campus and the campus neighborhood, lack of efficient cooperation with the city PD, etc. I'm not qualified to give an opinion.</p>
<p>Another thing that is utterly taboo to talk about in public is that for all but one of these crime alert things that every student seems to get, the suspect in the mugging is always a black male, and I'd say this is a mostly Caucasian-and-Asian campus. To the black people on this forum, how would this make you feel? Like you're under the microscope, or that people are afraid of you? Embarrassed? Angry? Happy? Sleepy? Gassy? Nauseous?</p>
<p>FWIW, I, the OP, couldn’t give a crap about football or the stupid rivalry with Michigan, so you aren’t hurting my feelings one iota with ■■■■■ answers.</p>
<p>What often happens in smaller college towns is a crime spree by one guy (such as burglaries) and then the guy is caught, and everything is back to normal.</p>
<p>However, street crime has certainly spread to many towns that were not used to it. Part of the problem is that students are so accustomed to walking around by themselves at 3 AM, which is the first thing you learn not to do in a city.</p>
<p>Much of the street crime is driven by drug addiction. I knew a guy who proposed that the Police hang out at ATMs at 3 AM and ask guys what they needed that $50 for.</p>
<p>Every college is required to collect crime data and make it available to the public. Most post in on the website. It is usually under “security” or “clery act”.</p>
<p>At my school we have had just one assault reported in the last year. There have been a few cases of items stolen from vehicles, but the perpetrators were apprehended shortly afterwards. One reason for the low crime rate is that 80% of the males on campus are cadets, who suffer severe consequences if they do anything out of line. It’s also somewhat self-perpetuating: since there is so little crime, the police have nothing to do but sit around waiting from someone to break into a car in the parking lot, and then run said person down before they can blink.</p>
<p>I go to UD, about an hour away from OSU and during the first half of the semester we had a lot of attacks on students and on nearby residents. One student was mugged at knife point on campus just a few weeks ago. Every notification I’ve gotten has listed the attacker as a black young adult male.</p>