Campus Safety reports that during the week of March 18-21, the most common incident that has occurred on campus was damage to property. The majority of incidents have occurred within areas on the south end of campus, including Res/Rec and Patterson Hall.
With more damage to property and vandalism, “officers are routinely conducting foot patrols in the building to check for any damages,” said Director of Campus Safety and Parking Services Ashley Klco. “When we see a specific trend occurring in a building, we add additional patrols. This is to help deter any new damage and locate any damage that may pose a safety hazard.”
Due to the growing number of damages and vandalism, Campus Safety, Residence Life and Student Affairs have been diligently working together to combat the areas that have been victimized. Michael Willison, assistant director of Campus Safety, believes that the presence of on-call officers in the buildings is two-fold.
“It may prevent incidents from occurring and it affords the opportunity for people to report incidents,” said Willison.
Theft
Along with damage to property and vandalism, Campus Safety also emphasizes that the College should pay close attention to theft.
“We (Campus Safety) recommend locking dorm room doors when you are not present in the room and each night. Many thefts occur as a result of leaving rooms unlocked,” said Willison.
If there any suspicious people in a building, Campus Safety encourages reaching out to them at their phone number, 630-637-5911.
Even though a large number of incidents continue to occur, there are positive results from quick response rates. Campus Safety, Residence Life and Student Affairs have addressed and documented incidents as they happen.
Response to Incidents
Dean of Students Kevin McCarthy explains that Campus Safety and Residence Life are the first to respond as incidents happen. This enables Student Affairs to generate the initial conduct processes.
When the initial follow-up happens because Campus Safety and Residence Life are called to an incident and can see or respond to an incident, “they take pictures, write the report and get statements from people that are involved in those incidents. So, the initial response takes place immediately for Residence Life and Campus Safety, even before the incident response is generated,” said McCarthy.
Once Student Affairs generates and submits an incident report, they determine details relating to the conduct follow-ups. McCarthy says that depending on the nature of the issue and if a report came through the Incident Report or Early Alert system, timing varies in regards to following up directly with the victims based on the severity of the incident report or early alert.
“If it’s a low-level related issue, such as drug or alcohol incidents, it takes place within the next business day when those things are typically being processed. Sometimes we might need to launch an investigation and look into the matter before we move forward with the next steps,” said McCarthy.
Positive Impact
Despite the various incidents occurring on campus, Willison said the number of incidents has changed significantly compared to previous years.
“Our additional safety patrols on campus have had a positive impact and have reduced the overall incidents on campus. We have seen a decrease in damage to property/vandalism as well as theft reports,” said Willison. “For example, in 2019 there were 54 thefts reported over the course of the year. Currently, we only have 9 thefts reported.”
For information regarding incidents across campus, Campus Safety updates its reports at the start of every week here.
