As with previous years, UNM students consistently received LoboAlerts throughout the 2015-2016 academic year. Some of them have prompted discussion regarding safety on campus, and the topic has been a hot button issue, particularly this semester.
Since January, there have been 100 crime reports filed by UNMPD, including 93 incidents of larceny and 40 of battery, according to the UNM Police and Security website. Some have questioned whether APD involvement would reduce campus crime.
“UNM has its own police department,” said APD Detective Russ Alberti. “APD responds regularly to calls for service in that area, but not specifically on campus unless we are officially requested there.”
In the past five years the number of APD officers has decreased. Just five years ago APD had 1,000 officers and now they have a little over 800, according to Alberti.
For a city that in 2013 had a population of over 556,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, that amounts to approximately one officer to every 695 citizens.
UNMPD, meanwhile, has forty sworn officers, said UNMPD Lieutenant Tim Stump.
The ratio of officers to students is slightly better than APD officers to Albuquerque citizens. In August the Daily Lobo reported that there is approximately one officer for every 645 students.
However, with the recent acts of crime on campus, some students wonder whether or not there are enough UNMPD officers present on campus.
Kathryn McLane, a graduate business administration student, said she feels there should be more UNM police officers patrolling campus, saying it would even be a good idea if they had a class that taught people how to be aware of their surroundings.
“I hardly see them around. I just see all the cars sitting at the police station area usually,” Kathryn said. “I don’t think it would hurt, from a safety standpoint, to have more police officers around.”
Stump said UNMPD is confident with the number of officers it already has on campus, but it wouldn’t hurt if they were able to have more sworn in.
“The administration would always want to have more officers and more security on campus,” Stump said. “We’re given what we’ve been dealt with by the administration, and we do the best we can with it.”
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Although larceny may be the most common problem on campus, there is a way that UNM students, staff and faculty can take care of their belongings. Stump explained that most students and teachers leave their things out in the open, allowing people off the street to freely come and take them.
If students and teachers were more aware of their belongings and kept them in a safe place, then the amount of theft and larceny could decrease.
There have been instances of APD intervening on incidents around campus, including the notable protests-turned-riots on Central Avenue in March of 2014.
In fact, most UNM police officers are retired from APD, Stump said. Many spent the majority of their career as an APD officer and then moved over to join UNMPD.
UNMPD official say they don’t need the help of APD all the time, but can always lean on them when a situation comes down to it.
“Both agencies work well together when necessary, but that is not very often,” UNMPD Police Chief Kevin McCabe said. “If we have a major crime occur that needs certain expertise, APD is always ready and willing to support us.”
Bryce Owens is a student in the Communications and Journalist Department.
