Crime is a major concern at Wichita State. 

Because campus sits in the middle of what seems to be an unsavory part of town, the perception of safety for students is important. Crimes such as theft are carefully tracked and reported to keep the students informed. 

Keeping students informed is certainly important, but in some cases, this could be causing students to think there are more incidents of crime than actually occur.

“I’m a somewhat paranoid person,” Lyndee Owen, a junior psychology major, said. “My idea of crimes on campus are assault after night classes, broken car windows, stolen cars and a lot of stolen property. I would expect about 30 accounts of theft within a given month.” 

Others think differently .

“I don’t think there’s a lot of crime,” Chloe Wheeler, also a junior psychology major, said. “I would expect about 20 accounts of theft in a month.”

Although their perceptions may not be completely skewed on crime, incidents of theft on campus are not as common as most students seem to think.

According to Wichita State Police records, there were 12 reported thefts in the month of September, which ties last year’s count. Although one incident involved a stolen car that was later recovered, most accounts involved unattended property in buildings and in vehicles.

“My advice would be to not leave valuable property visible inside vehicles and to keep your valuables with you at all times [when on campus],” WSU police chief Paul Dotson said.

Although there are some crimes that are seemingly unavoidable, such as being mugged or having your car stolen, these are not the crimes that are happening on campus on a day-to-day basis. The student population can easily avoid most incidents of theft by following certain precautions when leaving the car, such as putting your laptop under the seat, or your backpack in the car’s trunk.

Crimes like these are easy to avoid and should not be overstated to scare the population into paranoia. However, the more you know about what really goes on at Wichita State, the more you can do to protect yourself and your property. For more information on crime, and a full month-by-month list of what WSU police officers are responding to, go to The Sunflower’s police blotter.