By Madison Thompson —

Campus safety has always been a topic of interest. Two shootings in four months at The Arch apartments calls into question College Choice’s rating of U of L being in the top 20 safest universities.

The Cardinal compiled 2017 crime reports for the areas around student housing. The report clarifies the criminal instances.

The number of reports is alarming.

Students need to know whether or not campus is safe. This can’t be done when all reports are not widely broadcasted. There are more reports beyond the Rave Alerts U of L sends out, such as the ULPD Daily Crime Log.

But why should they be broadcasted? It reflects poorly on the university, which may deter potential enrollment.

Students and parents need to be aware of what’s going on around student housing and on-campus. They need to know about the burglaries so students carry the minimal amount of valuable objects. They need to know the problem areas so they can be avoided.

Publishing information about crime looks bad for the university because it makes campus and housing look unsafe, which it can be. It would be far worse to have a student harmed or killed because they didn’t know how to protect themselves.

Theft is the primary instance with 116 reports in 2017 around student housing. This is followed by various criminal mischief and burglary.

In 2017, more than 200 reports were filed around campus housing and campus affiliated housing.

The most crime is reported around The Province, The Nine, Clubhouse apartments and, unsurprisingly, The Arch.

At least primary consolation from this report is on-campus housing has half as many reports of criminal activity. For parents, knowing your child is safe on-campus should come as a relief.

Students and parents alike need to be aware of on- and off-campus crime. Just because someone ranked U of L as top 20 in safety doesn’t mean we can disregard safeguards and be careless.

On the part of the university, more pre-emptive measures need to be taken, such as more patrols in the areas. Known trouble areas need more frequent observation.

Students’ safety is an important priority. Though patrols and campus security are keeping campus safe, off-campus areas need to be just as secure as on-campus.