This past Friday, the Department of Public Safety released its first-ever Annual Security Report. The report delineated University safety measures and provided statistics regarding criminal activity on Columbia's campus over the past three years. While Public Safety should be commended for making this information more readily available, it should more closely examine the trends it suggests are occurring, and reevaluate its activities on campus accordingly.
According to the safety report, Public Safety seeks to "enhance the quality of life for the entire Columbia Community." Across two main campuses and two research centers, Public Safety employs roughly 120 licensed, full-time safety officers. The department also utilizes advanced technology, undercover agents, and collaboration with the NYPD and FDNY to keep Columbians safe. Even with these resources, however, protecting more than 26,000 people is a formidable task. From 2005 to 2007, there have been 16 forcible sex offenses, 357 counts of burglary, 34 cases of aggravated assault, one murder, 201 alcohol violations, and 104 drug cases on the Morningside campus. In 2007 alone, there were 6 forcible sex offenses, 113 counts of burglary, 16 cases of aggravated assault, one murder, 180 alcohol violations, and
89 drug cases.
The stark increase in drug and alcohol violations last year shows signs of an alarming trend. Despite what the statistics might tell us, 2007 was not the year of the lush. Logic would suggest that students broke alcohol- and drug-related laws as frequently in 2006 as they did in 2007. In the wake of the University's "War on Fun," Public Safety appears to have dramatically increased enforcement of these misdemeanors. While proper enforcement of drug and alcohol laws is important, it should not come at the expense of preventing more serious crimes. Indeed, the eighteenfold increase in discipline for alcohol has accompanied a twofold increase in assault and an 80 percent increase in forcible sex offenses.
To truly keep students safe, prevention of serious crimes must take precedence over student discipline. Public Safety should recognize that a raucous party does not pose the same kind of danger as an aggravated assault or a forcible sex offense. It should remember that students must be alive and well if the department is to provide them an enhanced quality of life on campus.
