Anyone who has been at Hopkins for a significant amount of time is familiar with muggings, robberies, assaults and a variety of other crimes that occur on campus and near campus.
This unfortunate reality is especially pertinent given the recent shooting at Johns Hopkins Hospital in September and the tragic murder of promising young researcher Stephen Pitcairn this summer.
This begs us two questions – how truly dangerous is Baltimore, and just as importantly, is Hopkins doing enough to ensure that the campus is safe for students?
Upon being asked the first question, people often fall on one of two distinct sides. Some students claim that Baltimore is a “murder city” and are scared to go anywhere except for the campus and Penn Station and/or BWI Airport — by shuttle, of course.
The other side says these people have been completely sheltered all their lives, and that it’s all part of “normal city life.” Like many things in this world, the truth is somewhere in between the extremes.
According to almost all standards of measuring crime in the United States, Baltimore consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous cities in the country. For example, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report in 2009, Baltimore’s murder and non-negligent manslaughter rate was over six times that of New York City, and ranked as the 4th highest in the nation for cities of 250,000 or more with a rate of 37 people killed per year for every 100,000 people in the city.
These statistics place Baltimore behind New Orleans, Detroit and St. Louis but above cities such as Newark, NJ and Washington DC. Every year, hundreds of people get murdered in Baltimore. In terms of total violent crime, Baltimore placed 5th with 1,513 annual reported cases per 100,000 people.
To put this in perspective, other major university cities such as New York City, Boston, and San Francisco didn’t even make it into the top 20 in terms of violent crime in large cities. We can go into the social and economic causes of all this crime ad infinitum, this is not the appropriate venue for such analysis. What is evident from these statistics, though, is that Baltimore is one of the most dangerous cities in America.
However, don’t take that fact as an excuse to never leave campus to explore and embrace the many offerings of Baltimore. Much of the crime is concentrated in specific areas and there are many things one can do to prevent oneself from becoming a victim of crime.
For instance, don’t walk alone at night at 2 a.m. and be aware of your surroundings, always staying out of certain sections of the city. Common sense will indeed go a long way in protecting you here in Baltimore. If you clearly know where you are and what you’re doing, your chances of being a victim will be significantly decrease.
Additionally, it is important to know how to avoid confrontations; consider learning some self-defense. For many students, Hopkins is the first experience being alone in a major city, so there is a steep learning curve.
However, we also assume that since we are all paying such a price to attend Hopkins, the University has an obligation to help us adjust to this city and help ensure and educate us on safety. Now, how does the university do so and is there anything it can do better?
The truth is that the university already invests enormous amounts of money, manpower and effort into protecting the students on campus. Everywhere you go there are HopCops — either on foot, bike, or van —and Emergency Blue Light posts ready to be activated. Campus Security offers the Escort Van system that allows you to avoid having to walk alone late at night.
Tours are given by Campus Security to educate students about where near campus crimes have happened in the past and what one can do to avoid such incidents. Guards are stationed at all on-campus housing entrances. To be frank, the university has done a pretty good job securing the safety of students. However, many crimes still happen because there are things that the university, no matter how much money or manpower it devotes, can’t remedy.
For example, hypothetically, if a drunk student walks into a shady neighborhood several blocks away from campus at 3 a.m. — despite continued warnings not to do so — and gets mugged, the University cannot be held responsible.
One thing the university can do, however, is ensure that students understand what security services are available to them.
Indeed, many students are not sure how to use the Escort Van system and many complain it is unreasonably slow and sometimes even never comes, as the recent SGA survey pointed out. Hopkins already provides many resources to protect student’s well-being on campus, but should ensure that the quality of services remains top-notch and that students understand well what services are available. If students don’t know the services exist, or if they believe they are ineffective, they won’t use them.
The University can also consider increasing the extent of HopCop patrols to off-campus areas that are pretty much dominated by students such as the area near Northway, where a very large portion of student-related crime takes place. Many students will quickly point out that although they agree the university does an excellent job in ensuring that the campus itself is relatively safe, off-campus housing — keeping in mind that housing is not guaranteed for four years — is far more dangerous and crime-ridden.
This is one area the university might look for more solutions for, since if the university eventually forces students to move to such areas due to not ensuring housing for the duration of one’s undergraduate time, shouldn’t it also help protect them as it did for when they lived on campus?
Baltimore is indeed a dangerous city, but the university already does an enormous amount to protect the well being of students. As always, though, more can be done.
Remember that you, as the student, can also take many steps to protect your safety during your time here at Hopkins. Baltimore is a wonderful city, and to not enjoy many aspects of it because of safety concerns would be a missed opportunity.
