Balancing Needs and Wants Against Situational Realities in Campus Security

There is no question that campus security is a serious concern due to the many factors involved. The campus environment is not one that is considered particularly unsafe, but this is the reason why it has proven to be a perfect location for certain crimes to be committed.

This article by College Stats shows the top safety concerns on campus as told by students in surveys. The results show the following statistics:

  • 28% of all college students find excessive drinking and the dangers it can create to be a safety concern
  • 14% feel that walking alone could lead to becoming victims of a crime
  • 7% are afraid of being robbed while walking on campus
  • 6% are afraid of walking in areas that are not properly lit at night
  • 1% are afraid of sexual assault on campus grounds

Excessive drinking accidents and incidents

The fact that most college students have reached legal drinking ages makes this problem quite common. The number of incidents cause by inebriation is always quite significant across many campus grounds in the US.

The issue with drinking can’t be stopped, but it can be monitored and more consciousness surrounding it can be raised. This is going to help lower the situations in which alcohol has been the cause of accidents that compromise campus security.

Walking alone during the night

This one is going to depend on the size of the campus and the areas that have no proper lighting during the night. It is mainly female students that feel unsafe walking alone at night on campus grounds.

The list of concerns grows larger at smaller percentages, but the concerns of these students and their parents is evident in many areas. With that said, the ability to create reliable and highly efficient campus security can make the possibility of criminal activity a much less concerning issue.

Hate crimes and their prevalence all over US campus grounds

The concerns related to hate crimes are also something to consider. When you look at charts and data on campus crime reports, you will see that hate crimes and aggravated assault reported from time to time.

The balance of wants and needs is essential

Understanding what a campus needs in terms of security is essential, but the things that both the college staff and the student body want should not be ignored. This is the reason why the process needs to occur with proper planning and analysis.

Data collection plays a major role in this process. It is essential to make this data available in order to identify the most vulnerable areas of a campus. Incident reports are going to be very important of the process of ensuring the best approach to upgrade the safety of a specific campus ground.

Most campus communities split into three main groups that include the student body, the board of teachers and the administration of the campus all need to cooperate in order to ensure the best possible outcome.

Adapting campus security to data results

Anything that you see in a report with a significant number of incidents can lead to some modifications. For example, if more than one situations of theft occur in some area of campus that has very little lighting, the best course of action is to invest in more lighting to be made available in that area.

This type of analysis of existing data is going to help identify the most relevant needs, while also paying attention to the community needs and expectations. This process requires a seasoned team of security experts that is able to provide integrated security solutions.

Surveying staff and student body

One of the best ways to guarantee that you can gather relevant data is to survey the student body in a specific campus location. This is a very time consuming process, but you could also arrange and schedule specific dates for these surveys. This is a great way to ensure that you can capture as much data as possible.

These surveys are going to be a key factor for the proper analysis of the most relevant and important security issues. It is important to spend as much time as needed surveying before making any changes or implementing new rules.

Security handbooks

The creation of security handbooks to print or create in digital format. It is essential for the whole campus to read and learn the contents of the handbook. This requires that all the research is done before hand in order to create a comprehensive guide.

Any campus ground that is looking to achieve optimal security results needs to create a handbook that all students, teachers, and other staff should read and follow.

The use of drugs to commit assault crimes

Many sexual assault crimes happen after the victim ingests a drug. This will usually happen when serving drinks at a party or any social event. Security in campus also means being able to control illicit substances. This also means any circulation of drugs for this type of purpose.

Choosing the right type of security service

Campus management needs to hire a reliable security service provider that is going to help make this process easy. The main thing to consider is that this is going to be a process that requires experience.

That is the reason why it is essential for a security service organization to have vast experience in campus security. This is very different from residential or workplace security measures and strategies.

It is essential for campus administration to take their time when deciding the best service to hire. This is going to determine how efficient the results can be and the level of commitment of the service providers.

Final thoughts on campus security

While campus security is going to depend on several factors specific to each campus, there are some security measures. Any reliable security services should implement them on any campus.

By Joseph Sordi, SVP of Business Development

Strategic Security Corp.