Living dangerously - Off Campus Housing

From the Phoenix Tribune online a story that illustrates off campus housing is no respite from crime.

Instead, like many college students nationwide who choose to live away from school, they became victims of crime.
According to public records, four out of the 10 Tempe apartment complexes where police are called the most cater to ASU students, and one of them - where the most horrific crimes have occurred - is actually recommended by the university.
"I don't feel as safe as I think I should," said 20-year-old Riana Wernick, an ASU junior living at Gateway on Apache. "There's way too many people with way too much access."
Wernick thought she'd be safe when she moved to the upscale off-campus apartment complex at 2323 E. Apache Blvd.
The pricey modern units were gated and filled with other students just like her. But when Wernick walked outside one day and found her car had been stolen, she realized she was wrong.
Wernick soon discovered many of her friends had also experienced crimes at the complex. Their belongings were stolen. They witnessed fights. Their property was damaged.
Police were called an average of 502 times per year from 2005 to 2007 at Gateway on Apache, formerly called University Housing of Tempe.
The average number of calls for service at the complex was .52 per resident in 2007, compared with the citywide average of .06 per resident for the same year.
In another complex, Gateway at Tempe, where one sexual assault and one rape were reported in February, police responded an average of 379 times per year over the past three years, records show.
These apartments, along with Scottsdale Gateway apartments, are all owned by the same company and ASU refers them all to young adults attending ASUlooking for off-campus housing.
While students say they are surprised by the amount of crime occurring in their complexes, police say the trend is common. And while ASU has created a special program for off-campus students, it recommends apartments to students without first determining if they are safe.
"Anytime you put students into a complex, we're going to be out there a lot," said Tempe police crime prevention Sgt. Ken Harmon. "I think they bring with them this on-campus, dorm mentality, 'I live with ASU students,' and 'I trust ASU students.' It couldn't be further from the truth."
He added, "They're not in a dorm and not all these people are ASU students."
The Associated Press reported a 2005 study by U.S. departments of education and justice shows crime rates for students living on campus were at least 50 percent lower than those living away from their campus, in the case of violent crimes. However, on-campus students were more likely to have belongings stolen.
Harmon said that students are both the criminals and the victims in their communities. He said the socially oriented focus of student apartment complexes creates conflict with more studious neighbors and that the trusting nature of the students leaves them vulnerable to criminals looking for easy victims.
In fact, Harmon said that most of the city's victims of sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults this year involved the rapist climbing in through an unlocked window or door, and citywide, 44 percent of burglaries also show no signs of forced entries.
"I can't think of any young woman who deserved any of this, but if their door had been locked, (the criminals) would've moved on to the next one," Harmon said of the recent attacks.
Management at Gateway's complexes refused to take any questions from the Tribune as to what they are doing to keep their young-adult residents safe. However, the company issued a statement through public relations specialist Julie Ratcliff, of kREED + COMPANY.
"Our residents' safety is a top priority," the statement said. "We have many preventative measures in place at our community."
The statement listed some of these as crime-free multi-housing, tracking police calls for service at the complex, surveillance cameras in common areas, a gate and security. The complex also holds at least one safety meeting per semester.
Still, some residents living at the communities said they just don't feel safe.
"This is my second year living here, and I really don't feel safe at all," said ASU junior Danie Lack, who lives at Tempe Gateway.
ASU freshman Emily Green, 19, a Gateway on Apache resident, said crime in her complex has been such a nuisance that she has asked to break her lease after about nine months.
"There's a ton of fights around here. We randomly hear gunshots and my friend was taking care of his dog and his apartment got broken into," Green said. "You know parties, random people come in and they put him to gunpoint."
Green said she told management at her complex she fears for her safety and would like to work out a fair agreement, but "they said no."
ASU Associate Vice President of University Student Initiatives Michael Coakley said nearly 75 percent of students at the university live off-campus or commute from their parents' homes. Because of this, ASU began a new program, the Off-Campus and Commuter Student Services program, "to engage" students living off-campus.
However, while it does refer students to off-campus housing, the program does not hold the apartment complexes to any standards or ensure they are safe places to live. Also, the program doesn't track exactly how many students are involved in it, so its impact can't be measured.
"We know how many hits the Web site gets and how many people come to the programs," Coakley said, "but we don't know how many are duplicates."
Coakley said ASU tries to protect its off-campus students by partnering with police to hold crime-prevention events, but that the new program is more to provide a connection for students living away from ASU.
The program also has students act as liaisons between the complexes and the university.
While many of the complexes police visit most often cater largely to ASU students, some of the communities with the most calls have residents of many age groups.
Sierra Vista Apartments II, 615 S. Hardy Drive, and Coronado Apartments, 1865 E. Broadway Road, had the highest calls for service last year.
One apartment complex, Mill Pointe Apartments, formerly called the Villages on Mill, 4120 S. Mill Ave., had more than 800 calls for service in 2005 and 2006, then dropped down to 249.
Police said Mill Pointe Apartments is a great example of how fixing up the appearance of a property can also have a positive impact on crime.
"I was just commenting to one of my guys the other day that this place has done the transformation," Harmon said of Mill Pointe.
"They've taken a lot of steps of who goes in and who goes out and making that environment a lot safer," he said.
Police said the idea behind this concept is called the "Broken Windows Theory." Written by James Q. Wilson in 1982, it argues that properly maintaining a community by painting over graffiti, fixing broken windows and addressing other eyesores can lower crime.
"A rundown place invites crime," Harmon said.
Michael Levine, who wrote the book "Broken Windows, Broken Business," said adequate lighting and good property maintenance put criminals on the defensive, which is just where they should be.
"You've got to light the windows up," Levine said. "You've got to show criminals psychologically that the bad guys are not in charge."
One apartment, the Tanglewood Apartments, failed to stop criminals from operating on the property, prompting Tempe police to move forward with the rare but powerful criminal abatement process.
During criminal abatement, police can obtain a temporary restraining order mandating the property owners to take certain steps or be charged with a class 5 felony. The program essentially forces businesses to comply with crime prevention efforts.
A police notice released to the Tribune in a public records request showed the Tanglewood Apartments failed to address repeated drug sales and trafficking of stolen property on its premises between April 2006 and September 2007.
The complex was the only one that police have begun criminally abating in the past two years. And after the proceedings began, calls for service decreased by 73 percent, said Tempe police spokeswoman Sgt. Cindy Davies.
"That's a pretty effective tool," Harmon said.
However, he added, "A lot of times management doesn't know how to turn it around."