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The Chronicle Blogger

February 26th, 2008

Is Duke’s crime really that bad?

Although Duke has recently faced a series of crimes committed off campus, I was surprised by its standing at 245 in the Reader’s Digest survey that ranked 285 schools from lower to higher crime rates on campus. Perhaps it’s my naivety, but I do not usually feel threatened venturing to Perkins or even to science drive in those hours of the night that necessitate heavy doses of Red Bull or espresso. I do not have much experience with Central, but it’s difficult to imagine that crime there along with the rest of the campus surpasses that at larger and/or more urban schools.

After analyzing the results of the survey and the methods by which its authors determined the rankings, the survey seems to give an inaccurate portrayal of safety and security at Duke. For example, because forcible sexual assault and murder were weighted significantly more than was either burglary or motor vehicle theft, universities that experienced even one instance of murder or a few instances of sexual assault plummeted in the rankings. This might explain why the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was ranked 274 in the survey, since one student was murdered on campus in 2004.

It is also important to consider that the survey only examines reported crime. Since it does not include statistics of arrests or convictions, the survey does not investigate the validity of the crimes reported. Thus, some of these accounts could be fictitious or exaggerated.

By contrast, a higher incidence of reported crime could also indicate a more capable and accessible police force. Because they would be patrolling more effectively, police would be able to detect more crime and possibly make even more rightful apprehensions.

Everyone agrees that Duke, like other universities, suffers from a crime problem to some extent, and that this dilemma should be taken seriously and sought to be eliminated. But the notion that Duke’s campus is particularly dangerous for students is unfounded and does not seem to be adequately supported by the results from this survey.

–Jessica Lichter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 at 11:44 am and is filed under Editor's Blog, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.