Campus crime needs more light

How disappointing to receive only a two page letter when I requested the complete minutes and reports from the Residence Hall Security Review Committee of last summer. The Aug. 1 letter I was copied on from Derek Jackson to Chuck Werring listed seven bullet points. It was not as complete as the the letter that Heather Reed had sent before, which is published on this blog.

Here were the recommendations from the committee as they were presented to Chuck Werring:

Committee members( Derek Jackson, assistant dean of students, Skyler Harper, assistant director of housing and dining services for facility operations, Officer Dan Stubbings, KSU Police Department, Kipp Van Dyke, residence life coordinator, Ryan Spencer, ARH president, Shana Kaufman, resident assistant, Patrick Simpson, resident assistant.

Here is a quote about the committee from Jackson: "To gain an understanding of the safety and security issues we reviewed the campus crime statistics and FBI Benchmarking survey for the past three years and compared this information with our peer institutions and institutions around the country. Our finding in almost every area showed that K-State was a safer place than our peers based upon the crime report and FBI Benchmarking survey. "

Recommendations:

1. Develop a student security inventory card that will be used to collect serial numbers from high value personal items that often are stolen.

2. Exterior door access: restrict exterior wing door card access to allow only exiting only between the hours of 9 pm and 7 am. We recommend using the panic alarm system that will at the door at at the front desk when someone exists the wing door.

3. Main door access: We recommend that the main doors be locked at 9 pm and unlocked at 7 pm. We recommend that the doors be staffed to check IDS from 9 pm to 4 am Wednesday through Saturday, which we felt were the high traffic times. Between 9 pm and 7 am the card access system would be in place to restrict access from person who did not live in that building.

4. Student room door hardware: We recommend that door locks be placed with auto locks.

5. Guest registration: We recommend that all guests be registered at the front desks.

6. Security cameras: We did not recommend using security cameras as a means of increased security unless in specific areas where deemed necessary.

7. Safety and Security information: Information is available that will assist students and parents in understanding safety and security issues, but we feel student could be given more opportunities to learn about this information. We recommend creative ways to educate student and their parents on these issues.



TK: My reaction is that this two page summary is incomplete. K-State needs to open up all of its documents it used to craft these recommendations. In the spirit of point number seven, I will ask K-State to shed more light on this important issue. While K-State was "safer place than our peers," a member of my family was brutally beaten at Goodnow Hall. K-State has never apologized for its negligence in after hours security nor offered any tangible assistance to cover medical bills.