On-campus living is getting increasingly more dangerous and a recent surge of LiveSafe notifications is warning students of armed suspects in their area. Campus safety feels like it is deteriorating and the University needs to do something about it.
ASU is spread out across the Valley, with four main campuses in Tempe, Downtown Phoenix, Mesa and Glendale. No matter where they choose to reside, students should feel safe and secure.
For many, college is the first time they are out in the world on their own — without parents, a curfew and much less supervision. It can be a scary experience and adding the worry of a threat to their safety can make the experience harder.
READ MORE: Policing at ASU: How campus and local police combat concerns on campus
The University does well with reprimanding students who commit offenses and in some cases does protect its students, but the increase in alerts is not something that should be so easily overlooked.
The Downtown Phoenix campus is in the middle of a city – the fifth largest city in the country, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, and comes with a large homeless population.
READ MORE: Opinion: Have compassion for our unhoused neighbors
Kaitlyn Scott, a senior studying psychology, referred to homeless people on campus as one of her top concerns when it comes to campus safety.
Scott said she hopes for a campus police chief that's "looking to do greater good for everybody, especially students on campus and people who need the help most."
With the Downtown Phoenix campus being so open and integrated into the city, all members of the public have access to where students live. People — for the most part — stay to themselves, but there are always outliers.
Additionally, in the past two weeks, students have received four LiveSafe alerts for this campus. Two of the alerts were reports of a suspect with a gun, one with a knife and a recent report of a motor vehicle theft in the Taylor Street Parking Structure.
Occasionally, the presence of unhoused people can leave students wary, and armed suspects are even scarier but students should not have to be constantly on high alert in their own housing.
READ MORE: ASU students encounter man with a gun near Gordon Commons dorm
The Tempe campus may take the cake, having a great number of criminal offenses in 2023, 263 in total. Out of that, 179 were motor vehicle thefts, 24 burglaries, 21 aggravated assaults and more, according to the 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.
"There will never be an end to the types of concerns but there are probably about a dozen very common public safety problems on university campuses that will always beg for attention," said Michael Scott, a clinical professor at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
With thousands of enrolled students, the ASU Police Department has a lot to look over. It seems like their main focus is directed toward serving alcohol referrals, specifically 962 in 2023, according to the 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.
Scott said some of the most notable problems are theft and burglaries in residential dorms, sexual assaults and underage drinking.
Dylan Reedus, a freshman studying mechanical engineering and a resident of Tooker House, said he recalls a time when he recognized suspicious activity while walking back to his dorm.
"There was two people, that (I'm) pretty sure were on drugs, and they didn't look like they were young enough to be students here," Reedus said. "(I) kept my distance from them."
It should be noted that not all crime comes from outside actors, students can and do commit crimes in the Valley. In these cases, ASU has an even greater responsibility to ensure student safety on campus.
The West Valley campus experienced an incident where a student was stabbed in September.
Students near the incident were not informed and had to rely on friends, rumors and themselves to get information on the situation rather than a LiveSafe alert.
READ MORE: An ASU student was stabbed in a classroom, students nearby never received alert
There is reason to doubt students would continue to attend a University with constant fear of local crime. Eventually, people will become reluctant to join this highly accredited University with a large student population, ultimately ruining the image it wants to convey.
The students make the University what it is: sports, research and overall image. In return, the University should keep them feeling safe.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 6:20p.m. on Oct. 30 to include more sensitive language and clarifying the message of a quote.
Editor's note: The opinions presented in this column are the author's and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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Edited by Senna James, Sophia Ramirez and Tiya Talwar.
Reach the reporter at elbradfo@asu.edu and follow @emmalbradford__ on X.
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Emma is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication and political science, with a minor in business. This is her second semester with The State Press.
