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Campus Police, a division of the Rexburg Police Department, patrols the BYU-Idaho campus and offers other services to keep students safe.

Responsibility shared for campus safety

Allison Walker WAL04015@BYUI.EDU Campus Asst. Editor

The first memorable images of safety at school are often the neon orange vests of the monitors and crossing guards of elementary school. Losing lunch money and running in the halls were the main concerns then.

But as each campus size grows, so do the concerns about safety.

As both freshmen and returning students step onto a campus like BYU-Idaho, many wonder how safe the area is and what they can expect from the school in terms of protection. Along with that comes the question of what students should do to protect themselves.

The Rexburg Police Department helps keep students, their belongings and their identities safe through its University Division on campus. Cpl. Billy Plank and the rest of the campus police work hard to protect BYU-I students through routine patrols, 24-hour on-call personnel and other services.

For example, they provide an escort service. Students working or studying late into the night may call the campus police at Ext. 3000 from any courtesy phone on campus or a personal mobile phone and request an escort home free of charge.

The campus is also equipped with readily accessible emergency phones for on-campus emergencies.

Plank said that any time a situation would possibly require a call to 911, just reach an emergency phone, push the red button, and you will be immediately connected to the campus police.

If you suspect you are being followed, or there is an accident and someone has been seriously injured, the campus police are ready to provide help. “We just hope they’re not pushing it (the button) to get directions,” Plank said with a laugh.

Police personnel also teach several classes that provide students with knowledge and skills to protect themselves. Rape Aggression Defense classes are taught every month to provide women on campus with self-defense skills.

Safety talks covering personal, property and ID safety, are also given on request to apartments, enrichment groups or other meetings.

Campus Watch, a program similar to Neighborhood Watch, employs students to coordinate with the campus police to keep watch of their own apartment complexes and surroundings.

Many crimes have been solved or brought to light because these students paid attention and weren’t afraid to report what they saw.

Plank said that while the crime rate on this campus is much lower than other universities’ because of the demographics of the student population, it doesn’t mean BYU-I is exempt from misdemeanors.

The common occurance of theft on campus proves this point. Theft is by far the most common crime and is also the hardest to track.

“My theory of theft is that it is a crime of opportunity … if someone just sees $10 sitting on a desk in the library, the temptation is too great and they’ll just take it,” Plank said.

To protect your belongings “mark it, know what it is and know where it is,” Plank said. Campus police even have an engraver available for students to mark their items with an identifying number or name to verify ownership in case it is recovered.

“I think people tend to feel a little too safe [on campus],” said Amber Blaylock, a sophomore from Rexburg. Blaylock, who works at the Lost and Found located in the Manwaring Center, witnesses the effects of theft first hand.

“People assume that [their belongings] will always come back … but we don’t get it back all the time,” Blaylock said.

“Should be is a lot different than reality,” Plank said. “Don’t be trusting. It sounds harsh, but you can’t trust everybody, because not everybody is going to do the right thing.”