Crime continued its decline last year on the Kansas University campus, but efforts also are ongoing to make the campus even safer.

In addition to officers with the KU Department of Public Safety, special night lighting, emergency phones and security cameras along with safe ride and walk services are utilized to provide campus security.

In 2004, campus crime dropped 3 percent from the previous year.

“We are pleased with the decline in crime,” Public Safety Director Ralph Oliver said. “The safety of the campus community is a high priority.”

Most of the campus crimes – 75 percent of them – involved property crimes such as burglary, theft and vandalism. The most important thing for students to do to keep from being a victim involve simple common sense. Don’t leave personal belongings on a table in a library while you go off somewhere to the bathroom or get a drink of water; and don’t leave important items in plain sight in a car, police say.

“Both tend to create situations in which they (students) may be victimized,” said Maj. Chris Keary of the KU Public Safety Office. “It’s best that you take personal items with you when you go out of the library or put things out of sight in your car.”

KU recently has worked with campus police and students to increase lighting in especially dark areas on campus. As additional lighting problem areas are identified an effort is made to improve the lighting. It’s an ongoing process, Keary said.

“The campus is well-lit but it is not going to have light in every area because that would be impossible,” he said. “It just goes back to being aware of where you are and what’s around you.”

This summer KU will begin installing 23 security cameras in key areas around campus, thanks to a $100,000 federal Homeland Security grant. The cameras will be installed in the parking areas around Daisy Hill near residence halls, as well as around Gertrude Sellards Pearson and Corbin residence halls, said Rhonda Birdsong, KU Police public service administrator.

The paperwork for a second, $50,000 Homeland Security grant is being completed so that six or seven more cameras can be obtained for areas around Memorial Stadium and Allen Fieldhouse.

The cameras will be monitored at least 12 hours a day initially, Birdsong said. Although she wouldn’t say specifically where the cameras will be placed, she said there will be signs informing people that the areas are monitored. The cameras also will feed images to tape so incidents can be reviewed if they occur, she said.

“It’s just to add another level of safety and security for students and staff,” Birdsong said.

Security cameras already have been used inside the fieldhouse and the stadium by KU Athletics Corp. in conjunction with police. Cameras also are utilized in the Kansas Union.

If students or campus visitors see or encounter trouble they can look for one of 70 emergency telephone boxes on campus. The phones connect directly to KU Police dispatchers. The phone boxes are easily seen because of their bright yellow color. They can be found on main floors of many campus buildings as well as in areas outside. For a complete listing of where the phones can be found, go the KU Department of Public Safety Web site, www.ku.edu/~kucops/.

In addition, 911 phone calls made on campus, whether by land lines or cell phones, should ring into the KU Police dispatchers.

Additional security features students can take advantage of are the Safe Ride and Jaywalk programs.

Safe ride is a service that provides rides from home anywhere in Lawrence between the hours of 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. To get a ride, call 864-7233.

Jaywalk (864-3222) began in the fall of 2003. The service is operated by trained volunteer students who provide other students with walking escorts from one location to another on campus. Both a male and female are sent at the same time to escort an individual. The service is available from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

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