UMD Uniform Crime Drops

Uniform crime at the University of Maryland is down from August 2010, as the UMD Police Department has begun a series of new policing tactics. The campus had a dramatic reduction in crimes since 2006, even while the number of crimes around campus continues to rise. 

 "We changed our approach to policing the campus," said University of Maryland Police Captain, Marc Limansky. Before the new policing strategy, officers would respond to and clear calls anywhere they wanted, including areas off campus. Now, the department has come up with a better plan.

"What we did was come up with a plan to ‘sectorize' the university geography. We created four sectors, which allows the officer in each sector at all times  …now [we] have an even distribution of police presence," said Limansky.

Many Maryland students, including sophomore on-campus resident Wendell Alston Jr., have noticed the increased police presence.

"There are always police everywhere; they do a good job and you always see a police car somewhere."

The advantages of the new strategy are a higher police enforcement presence, which improves police perception, and greater stability on campus, which ultimately leads to crime reduction.

The reformed plan also increases the immunity around the officers working in specific geographic areas, as they are able to get to know the people that live and work in these areas. Residents within the university's neighboring areas have also begun creating trustworthy relationship between the police officers.

"I've always felt safe as a student and as a recent grad, mostly because of the police presence; it's a good safety measure," said recent Maryland graduate Frank Emeni. "After a certain hour, crime tends to increase. But, the police occupy many entrances and buildings, so I know they'll always be around."

However, not all plans are perfect and this one has some shortcomings. "The disadvantages are that some officers are not really crazy about it. But they learn to like it, " said Limansky.

To ensure safety on the campus, Limansky recommends remembering many commonly known safety strategies, such as always walking in groups, using the university shuttle service, or calling the UMD escort service.

Above all students must make themselves aware of many services provide by the university's police department, and utilize them often.

"The trick is getting people to know that the service is there," Limansky said. "A lot people think it is a inconvenience to the police, but…it is an easy phone call, and we are there within in minutes."