Campus Safety

In the past three years, Stony Brook University has seen an increase in burglaries/thefts and weapon crimes on campus, according to the Stony Brook University police website. The number of stolen laptops, textbooks and other valuable personal belongings have increased. There have also been more instances where disciplinary referrals were issued to armed persons on campus. Although the alleged gunman incident on campus this past February was concluded to be an inaccurate report, it exposed the troubling problems. Some students I have spoken to believe that the police on campus did not control the situation properly and did not make them feel any safer on campus. Other’s were worried that professors were not prepared and were unaware of what procedures to follow in the event that there was an actual threat on campus. As a result of the increasing number of crimes, the university is planning new ways to crack down on these growing trends. I will talk about new plans, hirings, meetings and crime prevention systems. I will interview the following people for this assignment:

1. Doug Little, the Asst. Chief of the University Police
   
2. Robert J. Lenahan, the Director of Campus Emergency Management (hired Jan.10th of this year)
   
3. Neil Sluiter, Captain Training & Special Events Coordinator.

I will also interview students, professors and others, who make up the 40,000 people, who frequent the campus daily and get their reactions to new changes and proposed future changes to ensure campus safety for every individual and his or her own property.