Many students perceive the Third Ward as being a negative influence to crime on campus | Esteban Portillo/The Cougar
As a freshman, I was told not to shop at the H-E-B near campus because it was in Third Ward and therefore dangerous. Frankly, these warnings and apprehensions are not totally unfounded, since the Third Ward was ranked the fifteenth most dangerous area in the U.S.
Many students believe that UH’s proximity to Third Ward is a negative influence on crime on campus. Without evidence, this is a common assumption.
According to annual campus crime reports, the crime rate has decreased on campus. However, Rice University has significantly less crime although it is less than half an hour away. UH’s current crime rate is similar to that of the University of Texas at Austin.
Looking at this data, it’s no surprise students believe that UH’s proximity to Third Ward is the cause of crime.
“Proximity and opportunity are two significant factors,” Lt. Bret Collier said. “Of the arrests made by UHPD over the last five years, roughly two-thirds of those arrested were not directly affiliated with UH. So for one-third of those arrested, the proximity question is answered. They are on campus legitimately when they commit a crime.”
In other words, one-third of crime on campus is caused by those who are somehow invited on campus, or otherwise affiliated with UH.
As for the other two-thirds, crime comes from outside of campus. However, we have no concrete evidence to claim that it’s because of Third Ward. Yes, it’s near campus, and some might see this as an easy opportunity to commit crime. But just because something is likely, doesn’t mean that’s actually the case.
“We know that they arrive to campus any number of ways, and we have seen criminals from all over the greater Houston area,” Collier said.
In reality, it’s difficult to determine the primary source of crimes committed on the UH campus, as neither HPD nor UHPD specifically tracks the sources of crime. Alexander Bunin, Chief Public Defender for Harris County, is also not able to disclose information beyond what is released in the press.
In other words, there’s insufficient evidence to show that crime on campus is primarily a result of UH’s proximity to Third Ward, as opposed to other areas of Houston.
But perception is powerful.
“I do think the Third Ward is one source of crime on campus,” political science post-graduate Mary Garcia said. “UH’s location allows for students and their belongings to become easily accessible targets… UH students are targeted for crime much more frequently than other Houston universities such as Rice.”
Many students believe that Third Ward is the primary source of crime on campus, but this perception is two-fold. Some students believe that Third Ward is a negative influence on UH, and others believe that UH is a positive influence on Third Ward. Some think it’s an unbalanced relationship.
But it’s not as if UH is purely a positive force on the Third Ward community.
The city takes what it defines as “blighted property,” and attempts to give the property a new purpose or value. Although there’s a plethora of factors, lower-income families are displaced and replaced by residents that are wealthier, thus gentrifying the area.
UH is not in a parasitic relationship with Third Ward. There is harm that comes along with the benefits of Third Ward’s proximity to UH.
Research professor Larry Hill of the Graduate College of Social Work also thinks that crime comes from sources other than Third Ward, but that it receives most of the blame for crime on campus.
Until more concrete information explicitly stating Third Ward is a primary cause for crime on campus is found, students should withhold their judgment.
Beware of the harm that can result from assumptions made — myself included.
Assistant opinion editor Sarah Kim is a political science senior and may be reached at [email protected]
I do think crime at UH is overplayed a bit, but I would definitely say the differences between UH and Rice’s respective crime rates is a testament to the surrounding community’s effect on crime.
I also don’t like that this article discounts the fact that 2/3 of crime committed on campus is by those with no affiliation to UH. Am I the only one who finds that insane? That stat could point to an overarching problem of security on campus. I’m not saying that UHPD isn’t doing a good job in policing the campus, but maybe there could be something better done to make sure that people who shouldn’t even be milling about are on campus. Granted, this is very hard to do when you have several public roads chopping up campus leaving those who peruse the outlying parts of campus more vulnerable.
Lastly, this article makes a coy insinuation that the city’s gentrification of the 3rd ward has something to do with UH. This is baseless. If you look all over the city, urban revitalization projects are happening that are nowhere near UH. 5th ward, Washington Ave., and East Downtown (“EaDo”) come to mind.
I’m not clear on your point about the 2/3 stat…to me in implies that people on campus without reason who commit crimes are the ones being arrested…you are insinuating it’s the opposite. There are a lot of factors not discussed too; I expect there are actually more people committing crimes who are campus affiliated, but those people would be less likely to be reported as suspicious and harder to catch due to access and, let’s face it, appearance. It’s not a race thing, it’s just that if you blend in, you are less likely to get caught. Who knows, half of those arrests for the “unaffiliated” might be from traffic warrants, but since it wasn’t the point of the article it wasn’t addressed apparently. It’s a public campus with a lot more than just classes going on, having police stop and ID people who appear to not belong is not a reasonable thing to suggest.
You’re right, this does cover “crime” in broad strokes, or at least it’s not very specific. It doesn’t really mention if it’s violent crime versus petty crime (jay walking, speeding, etc.). That could mean a lot especially since, again, we have several public roads going through campus. It also doesn’t help that the crime report linking in the article isn’t campus specific.
And I guess what I’m saying as far as the 2/3 stat is that it seems really crazy to me that on a campus of 40000+ students that a majority of crime committed on campus is by non-campus affiliates. And sure, that could be attributed to students being able to ‘blend in’ better, but don’t forget that 1/3 of the crime committed on campus has been from affiliates of the university. So it’s not like students are invisible to police.
All of that said, I would wager that most violent crime committed on campus are from people not affiliated with UH. Again, I think the overarching problem is the inability to effectively secure campus. That’s not UHPD’s fault. As UH and associated facilities continue to extend further and further away from the inner campus into the surrounding community it becomes much harder to keep police overwatch and effective preventative measures in place.