Safety and Security Issues

To the Campus Community:

Everyone in our campus community is most concerned about the increased number of robberies that have taken place since September. I want to assure you that we are responding to them aggressively. Our most able Chief of Public Safety, Kenneth Krouse, has taken specific actions to catch the culprits and help our community use our ample safety and security services to better protect itself.

The new initiatives underway include putting additional police officers on patrol between 9:30 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.; formation of a dedicated Robbery Suppression Team to work on and around campus; implementation of a Car Theft Task Force to make the community unattractive to car thieves; development of a local network of police forces to coordinate a regional apprehension effort; installation of cameras at the entrances to the campus to record vehicles entering and leaving the campus; reduction in the number of open entrances to the campus at night and an increase in the staffing of them. Working together with Student Affairs and the Student Government Association, we are implementing a neighborhood watch program in College Park to better report suspicious activities.

As individuals we can avail ourselves of the Safety Escort Services. Simply by calling 301.405.3555, you can get a personal escort from point to point 24 hours per day, 7 days a week at no charge. The Nite Ride is a curb to curb, on demand transportation service that operates 7 days a week from 5:30 pm to 7:30 am. Blue Light Emergency Phones are in place to enhance the safety of anyone in our community. Please use them. Other important steps you should take to protect yourself are seeking out well-lit pathways when you are walking on or around campus; locking the doors to your vehicles, dwellings and campus buildings; and avoiding traveling alone especially in the late hours. Storing the speed dial number 301.405.3333 on your cell phone will also allow you to contact the police emergency line if you need to. Additional information is available at www.umpd.umd.edu.

Our campus police are making progress in the apprehension of these culprits. Three cases have been resolved, leads are being followed in others, and all crimes are being actively investigated. We are not going to be known as a soft target for criminal elements.

The security of our campus and the members of our community is our highest priority. We will continue to seek the right balance between security and the need to maintain an open and welcoming campus environment. I have asked Chief Krouse to meet with the University Senate Executive Committee on a regular basis during this period to maintain a continuous, two-way communication on both the safety issues and our efforts to deal with them.

I thank everyone in advance for working together to create and maintain the secure and welcoming campus environment that we want and need. We can do it together.

C. D. Mote, Jr.
President