In an e-mail to the Homewood Community, President William Brody detailed a number of changes made by the university as part of the efforts to review and augment Hopkins security in the wake of the murder of undergraduate Christopher Elser last year. An advance copy of the e-mail, provided to the News-Letter by Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs Dennis O'Shea, draws on information from a separate seven-page security report from late August. The report, which compares Hopkins' security to 18 other schools, including the University of Pennsylvania and New York University, contains extensive information about the current state of security at Hopkins and the university's plans for the future.
After last April's security town hall meeting, which approximately 50 people attended, some students complained that their concerns were answered with vague or unhelpful responses. In the August security report and Brody's e-mail, a number of student concerns from the town hall meeting are addressed, including insufficient security near student housing, problems with the current escort van service, and security at fraternity houses.
According to Brody, "ever since the attack on Chris, our Security Department has maintained an increased presence off campus, in the community where many of our students live."
Brody also emphasized the level of cooperation between Hopkins and the Baltimore City Police Department, writing that "our Security patrols in the community supplement the regular patrols of the Baltimore City Police Department, with whom we work closely."
Sergeant Richard LeBrun at the Hopkins Security department echoed this increase, explaining that the department now has two units patrolling areas near student housing and an additional contract guard patrolling University Parkway, where many upperclassmen live in row houses.
While LeBrun said that the Security department's relationship with the Baltimore City Police Department was not greatly affected by Elser's death, he emphasized that the level of cooperation has always been high: "We've always gotten along with BCPD. Our director does contact upper-echelon people in the [BCPD]."
Responding to criticism of the escort van service, President Brody wrote, "We have made improvements and continue to monitor and evaluate the performance of the escort services. In addition to greater publicity of the route schedules and numbers, Hopkins plans other changes.
The August security report notes that "the average wait time for the "pick-up-on-call' service has been 11 minutes," a claim greeted with skepticism by students. In response to student complains about the reliability of the service, the report revealed that "the emerging trend in private university transportation services is to use contract service providers as a result of concerns over risk and liability and the lack of dependability on the part of student workers to abide by their employment schedules."
According to the report, Hopkins is investigating the use of contract providers instead of student employees to escort the over 91,500 passengers the service had last year.
The safety of fraternity houses, many of which are located several blocks away from the Homewood campus, has been an issue of special concern because Elser was attacked at the SAE house. In the e-mail message, Brody explained that "security continues to offer crime prevention evaluations of fraternity houses and other off-campus dwellings, and may also recommend the services of a certified specialist in crime prevention in buildings."
The August security report details more concrete steps by the University, including increased presence at fraternity houses by the University's community patrols. The report also reveals that "the security department has maintained an open offer to IFC members and the Greek Life Coordinator to provide a security walkthrough of their houses with a view toward improving security," which the fraternities have so far declined.
While the Security department has pledged to increase its presence at Orientation events, student response to the department's Orientation effort is mixed. Freshman Seth Iezman complained that the information provided during Orientation was inadequate. "The only thing I got out of [the information session] was the number to call for help," explained Iezman. He also suggested that the session could be improved by providing more information about the shuttles and escort services, especially information about the routes.
While Brody applauded the general downward trend in crime over the past five years, he suggested that each student is ultimately responsible for his security: "We want the downward trend to continue. But the truth is that -- the university's safety initiatives notwithstanding -- the person most important to making that happen is you."
