The University’s location in the Third Ward district has long created problems for resident and commuter students alike. | File photo/The Daily Cougar
As the fourth most populous city in the U.S., Houston follows the lead of other urban centers with a high crime rate.
UH, the city’s largest institution of higher education, lies in the heart of the Third Ward, serving residential students and those commuting from surrounding suburbs like Sugar Land, Pearland, Cypress and Katy. Despite the numbers for aggravated assault and forcible-sex offenses — crimes that are far more prevalent in universities the size of UH — being nearly non-existent on recent crime logs, robbery and theft continue to pose a problem for UH public safety.
“During the day I feel fairly safe,” said junior Stacy Hensley, who commutes to campus. “But there is definitely a time — 7 p.m. — where I no longer feel safe, and I start to hit the panic button.”
According to the University’s annual crime statistics report, incidents of burglary in non-residence areas on campus have climbed to 87 reported in 2012 from 14 reported in 2010. Burglary has also risen in residence halls as well, rising to 75 in 2012 from eight in 2010.
Some students believe there is a direct correlation between how much a student pays for housing and the level and amount of security they receive. Alexander Castillo, a sophomore and Quadrangle resident, said he remembers friends who were burgled as residents.
Burglary is climbing from previous years, and some students say that nicer dorms offer better security. | File photo/The Daily Cougar
“Sometimes we get the text or email 20 minutes later,” Castillo said. “The alert system definitely needs to be replaced with a better one. What happens if a student runs into a person fleeing the scene of a crime? Now that student has been put in danger because of a substandard alert system.”
Yea… the editor needs to do a better job proofing these stories.. especially when the spelling error is in the title and the statistics are backwards.
“… climbed to 87 reported in 2010 from 14 reported in 2012 …”. Error?
Also, this was only burglary stats. What about other types of crime? How do we compare with other urban institutions? More data is required to back claims put forth in the second paragraph.
I am interested if those years were truly flip-flopped, or if it was supposed to say “14 reported in 2002” and show the stat from long ago, not just 2 years ago. Because it seems like a very large increase for just 2 years, was 2010 really that much safer!?
I agree this article is poorly written. Outside of the typos, the facts are questionable. Last I checked, New York City actually has had a fairly low crime rate but the article makes it seem just because you are a big city, you must have a high crime rate.
Was The Daily Cougar at the event set-up by SGA regarding the perceptions of lack of safety on campus versus the reality?
UH better get a grip on this if they want high quality students to attend.