Campus Crime
Crime in America is not limited to streets and alleys; it may occur anywhere, including on and near campuses of schools, colleges, and universities. Students may be victims or perpetrators. Being a student is no defense to being charged with a crime. Typically, students are charged with underage drinking, shoplifting, casual drug use, or vandalism; however, some students are victims of or charged with far more serious crimes: illegal possession of weapons, robbery, burglary, theft of vehicles or other property, hate crimes, arson, assault, rape, manslaughter, or murder.
If a student commits any of these crimes, even minor crimes, a conviction or guilty plea carries long-term implications. The charge or guilty plea usually becomes a public record. Employers, private and public, often do background checks on applicants. A criminal record often is the difference between landing and not landing a job or position, and a criminal record may affect credit ratings, which means that you will not qualify for a loan for a car or will have to pay a higher interest rate for the loan. A drug conviction or plea may result in a student no longer qualifying for student loans to finance his or her education. Unfortunately, some students who commit relatively minor crimes believe that by entering a guilty plea, the ordeal is over and the mistake will be forgotten. But sadly, this is not the reality today. Often, the consequences have just begun. In today’s computerized, electronic world, records are easily made, kept, and available to the public.
If a student is a victim of crime, he or she also may face serious issues. A victim of crime unexpectedly may discover that he or she no longer can trust others, may live in fear, suffer emotional issues, sustain economic losses from injury to the student or his or her property, and lose the ability to focus on school or work. The emotional trauma causes some students to drop out. Being a victim of crime can change one’s life, plans, and dreams.
To keep from being a victim of crime, students at schools, colleges, and universities, should consider taking the following steps:
- First, be aware of their surroundings.
- Second, travel with others, not alone.
- Third, be vigilant.
- Fourth, notify authorities – campus security – of any crimes or possible criminal activities, and if you see a crime occurring, get out of harm’s way and report it immediately.
- Fifth, if you are a victim of a crime, report it to both campus security and local law enforcement.
- Sixth, avoid frequenting places that may put your personal safety in danger or your property at risk.
- Seventh, do not associate with or do favors for with people who engage in illegal activities. If they are caught, they likely will try to implicate you in their schemes or “rat” on you in order to save their own skins. My experience is that students often do not believe this point. But alas, they are more frequently mistaken, sadly mistaken. Do not be a chump.
Crime at schools, colleges, and universities will continue if we turn a blind eye to it or are disinterested, complacent, and uninvolved. Police and campus security do not possess the ability to be everywhere at once, and crime prevention requires constant attention. Therefore, be security conscious.
If you are or know someone who is a victim of a crime, notify authorities immediately. You have rights and legal remedies. If you are charged with committing a crime, talk to a lawyer immediately. Know this: Your future is at risk. For more information, contact Nashville Criminal Attorney Perry A. Craft.
Perry A. Craft has dedicated his life to helping people in need. He has tried, settled, or resolved numerous civil and criminal cases in State and Federal courts, and has represented teachers and administrators before school boards, administrative judges, and the state Board of Education. Learn more about Attorney Craft.