Despite record numbers of people entering and exiting the campus each day, the 2011 Annual Report of Campus Security Policies and Crime Statistics for California Baptist University, released Sept. 27, showed little change across the board with statistics only increasing or decreasing marginally.
There is always room for improvement, though, said Jim Walters, director of Public Safety at CBU.
“I’m never going to say I’m proud of it, because I’m not,” Walters said. “If there is a crime then I don’t like it. My (employees) know that. I am very relentless about pushing crime down and finding ways to involve the students.”
The report showed 11 burglaries on campus, including offices, classrooms and resident housing.
This figure is up from seven incidents in 2010. Walters attributes the increase to more office-related thefts.
Walters also said that the addition of the close-knit Colony student housing also led some students to not always take full precautions, such as keeping their doors locked.
“The Colony seemed like one big happy place — it’s like Disneyland. But there are a 1,000 people living in the Colony. So the odds are that if (a burglary) is going to happen, it is going to happen in the Colony,” Walters said.
Motor vehicle theft on campus was cut in half going from six incidents in 2010 to three in 2011.
Liquor law violations on the main CBU campus also decreased from 17 in 2010 to 12 in 2011. The newest figure represents less than half of the 2009 figure of 26 reported liquor-related violations.
Walters said the high number in 2009 was due to a large party of around 40 people where nearly half violated liquor laws.
Walters said that CBU’s changes in student residency has helped lower numbers of violations.
“You’re not as likely to have (large parties) in high-occupancy housing,” Walters said. “I’m pretty sure that if 40 people were having a party in the University Place, the resident director would know what was going on. When it was in the (single-family) houses it was easier to hide.”
Walters commended the university for going to all lengths to support the Office of Public Safety in keeping the campus secure throughout the years.
“The university has been amazingly supportive of the public safety part of the university experience even in the face of difficult economic times,” Walters said, adding that he “was hiring people for public safety even when the university was pretty much not hiring anyone.”
The report is required by The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Stastitics Act. Walters said that this act was passed by Congress in 1990 after a Pennsylvania university initially attempted to not disclose the death of a female student.
Walters said that he and the CBU Public Safety team strive to remain as transparent as possible in regards to events and incidents that occur on or around the campus.
Visit www.calbaptist.edu/ safety/ to view the full report.
