Off-campus crimes are solved more often than not thanks to efforts of Hopkins security - The Right Edge

Who would have imagined that The Princeton Review would be so kind to Hopkins? In this year's guidebook, The 331 Best Colleges, Hopkins is ranked sixth in the category of "Professors Bring Material to Life" and third in the category of "Best Libraries." The campus, perhaps unbelievable to some, is even ranked as being the 19th "Best College Town" out of 331 colleges and universities in the United States. Likewise, Hopkins would perform just as well in one additional category had it been offered: Crimes and Security

Despite the common misconceptions, off-campus crimes are more often solved than not. This, of course, does not ignore the fact that Baltimore City's crime levels are ridiculously high. In a city with a population not exceeding 660,000, Baltimore's crime rate is lower than that of New York City when compared as a whole, but higher when the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn are compared individually to Baltimore. Reported crimes for the city last year include 1,181 robberies, 48 homicides and 72 rapes. With that said, one should recognize that the vast majority of crimes in the Northern District, including Homewood and Charles Village, is larceny.

Dennis Rosemary, investigator for Hopkins Security and also former Baltimore police officer, offers a good description. "Larceny is the most typical form of crime in the area, not robbery," he says. "Especially larceny of [property in an] auto." The reason for this, Rosemary says, is "due to the empty cigarette lighter holders in cars." Apparently this is a signal to criminals that there is possibly a cell phone or CD player left somewhere in the car. In the case of auto larceny, the Baltimore Police has had much success by deploying plain clothed officers. Last year, the department successfully apprehended suspects who had broken into over 30 cars in the Charles Village area. In addition, Rosemary explains that with "successful arrests of some larcenists, even one" leads to a significant drop in the level of thefts. This is because usually one suspect is responsible for more than one crime.

The large number of larcenies and other instances of robbery tend to lead many Hopkins students to exaggerate the crime level off-campus. The fact that 78 percent of undergraduates come from outside of Maryland might also be a factor contributing to the horror stories. At times, though, this is more than comprehensible. After all, any reasonable person can understand the pain and shock that result from being robbed, especially if one was hurt as a result.

Nevertheless, the Baltimore Police Department and the Hopkins Security Office offer a reality check. Rosemary claims that "almost all robberies committed off-campus in the past six months have been cleared."

This type of success, according to Rosemary is "not unusual." He also offers an insight into what students would argue to be the most robbed store: Royal Farms. In regards, Rosemary estimates, "Out of 20 robberies, 19 have been cleared" for Royal Farms.

Inevitably, students might wonder why they have not heard about their cases even after it has been resolved. There are three possible reasons. First, the suspect of your case has been convicted on a different charge of crime outside of Baltimore. Second, the suspect is already in jail. Third, the police did not contact you about the arrest because the suspect was not convicted by your charges.

So, if you want to know whether that scum bag who robbed you is off the streets, then you should contact the Northern District Police Department. And if he is indeed behind bars, one should have a wonderful day with a grin of sweet justice.

The credit to solving so many cases in the Homewood area goes not only to the Baltimore police but also to the 58 men and women of the Hopkins Security team. Although their jurisdiction is only limited to the Hopkins campus and other buildings affiliated with the University, the officers still offer the greatest assistance to the police in order to resolve crimes against students. But this is only a small part of their day-to-day operations. Tom Douglas, lieutenant and assistant director of Security, says, "The [security] office receives as many as 20 to 100 calls a day" asking for assistance. These services range from opening the door for a student who has been locked out of his room to car troubles on N. Charles St.

At other times, the officers perform duties to bring order on campus. Keeping drunk fraternity boys from making mistakes, chasing drunk seniors and alumni on the Beach and guarding Garland Hall from student protesters are tasks that Rosemary would describe as being "all part of the job." When considering all the effort they put into their tasks, it is not hard to imagine why off-campus crimes are getting solved. More importantly, it is not difficult to understand why many students like the Hopkins security. After all, it would take great effort to dislike those who would gladly help a student open her orange juice bottle.

Special Thanks to: Investigator Dennis Rosemary, Lt. Tom Douglas and the Baltimore Police Department