The Other Side of Campus Life: A Parent and Student Guide to Campus Safety Told Through the Eyes of Former Campus Chief of Police

By David Helton

Oftentimes, colleges and universities fail to prepare prospective students for all that accompanies everyday life in a college setting. Questions such as,

What are some of the dangers of campus life?
How can I avoid extensive parking violations?
and, How can I best protect myself against campus crime?

often go unanswered because they are unpleasant topics, with complicated answers. It is my hope that "The Other Side to Campus Life" will illuminate some of these potential pitfalls of campus life and improve the overall college experience for incoming students.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491852934

David Helton

David Helton was born to serve his country. After successfully completing a tour of duty with the US Marine Corps, he earned a BS Degree in Criminal Justice. He spent the next three decades protecting college students, and the campus communities in which they lived. David's experiences as Chief of Campus Police at two separate universities allows him to provide readers with a better understanding of what happens on a college campus once classes are dismissed. He currently resides in Wisconsin, where he enjoys playing golf and fishing.

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© 2014 David Helton. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/05/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5295-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5294-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5293-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014901719

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

For Kristin and Jerica—I could not be more proud of you both

~ and ~

For all those students, faculty, and staff who made my law enforcement career so rewarding

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

THE CLERY ACT

PART ONE: Getting Settled on Campus

1.   ORIENTATION

2.   CAMPUS ORGANIZATIONS AND ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS

3.   CAMPUS HOUSING

4.   CAFETERIA FOOD

5.   LATE NIGHT CALLS

6.   PROPPED-OPEN DOORS

7.   WALKING ALONE

8.   DANGEROUS FALLS

9.   FRESHMEN AND VEHICLES

10.   LOANING VEHICLES

TO OTHER STUDENTS

11.   BATTERIES, FLATS, AND VEHICLE MAINTENANCE

PART TWO: Crime on Campus

12.   CAMPUS VIOLATIONS AND CRIMINAL CHARGES

13.   PARKING PERMITS AND TICKETS

14.   DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

15.   STEROIDS

16.   DATE RAPE

17.   SEXUAL HARASSMENT

18.   HAZING

19.   THEFTS

20.   VANDALISM

21.   FALSE REPORTS

PART THREE: CRIME PREVENTION

22.   CRIME PREVENTION

CONCLUSION

FOREWORD

O ftentimes, colleges and universities fail to prepare prospective students for all that accompanies everyday life in a college setting. It is my hope that the material contained herein will illuminate some of these issues to improve the overall college experience.

For almost thirty years, I had the opportunity to serve at two separate college law-enforcement agencies: sixteen years at a private, 4-year liberal arts college and thirteen years at a 4-year, state-funded university. For the latter two decades, I served as chief of campus police, before retiring at the age of fifty-five.

I carefully considered how to present my experiences in both an educational and entertaining manner, before I made the decision to abandon the path of previous campus crime authors. Namely, I do not use statistics to validate my points. My rationale for this is that incoming freshmen do not need to burden themselves with crime statistics. Statistics, while useful for many purposes, do not provide a complete picture on their own. Therefore, I have chosen to present real-life situations I encountered throughout my college law-enforcement career.

I hope you both enjoy, and learn from, the information that follows. All of the anecdotes described in this book are real; all of the student names are fictitious.

Yours truly,

David Helton, Director Police and Public Safety (Retired)

INTRODUCTION

A    good prank is well and good—that is, until someone finds out about it. As a younger man, that someone was usually my mother, who would promptly report the incident to my father when he arrived home from work. I remember listening quietly while he lectured me, shaking his head as he washed his hands at the kitchen sink before dinner. He never raised his voice or made threats; he simply stated his case and wrapped it up with the well-known adage that, it is okay to make a mistake as long as you learn a lesson from it. Then my father would dry his hands on an old dishtowel and add, "but it’s better to let someone else make the mistake—then, learn from that ."

It took a long time before I truly understood what he meant by that; however, it is in the same spirit I offer the information in this book. Take the mistakes made by these students and learn not only valuable lessons, but also how to protect yourself as a student.

Life on a college campus is often far more complex than taking a chemistry exam, researching a term paper, or preparing for finals. If you enter college with the mindset that you only need to go to class and pass some tests, then you are going to fail. Campus life is a total learning experience. Those who successfully complete the process are fortunate to do so without encountering a negative life experience along the way.

During my tenure as a campus police officer, I learned to expect the unexpected. While most of the negative situations you will read about involved a relatively small percentage of the campus population, what this small percentage of students could do on any given day would amaze you.

They surprised me every day for thirty years.

THE CLERY ACT

¹

Y ou will want to remember this.

On April 5, 1986, Lehigh University freshman, Jeanne Ann Clery, was raped and murdered as she slept in her dorm room. She was nineteen years old.

Following their daughter’s murder, Howard and Connie Clery discovered that Lehigh University administrators failed to inform students of a significant number of violent crimes occurring in the three years prior to Jeanne’s attack. In hopes to prevent another tragedy, the Clery’s joined forces with other victims of campus crime to persuade Congress to take measures to better inform and protect students. Their efforts resulted in what was originally known as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990. Later, this law would become known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 USC § 1092(f)).

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act revolutionized the way campus law enforcement agencies nationwide handled (and reported) campus crime. Rather quickly, archaic security operations prevalent in the 1970’s and 1980’s were replaced with modern, professional law enforcement agencies. Prior to the Clery Act, colleges and universities could choose which crimes to report, if they chose to report them at all. After the passage of the Clery Act, federal law dictated that campus crime be reported to students and parents.

This, in my opinion, is the single most important aspect of the law. Before the Clery Act, I observed senior administrators clearly indicating that an incident was not to be reported to the public, nor pursued through the criminal justice system.

However, after the Act passed, a few administrators chose to use the legislation in a positive manner, by offering the public full-disclosure of all incidents that occurred on campus. The Clery Act, along with support from administration, became a great tool in bolstering crime prevention efforts on campuses across the nation. Despite the passage of the Clery Act,