EDITORIAL: Revising crime report guidelines

The government should explore definition systems that might present a more realistic picture. But when then-College senior Patrick Leroy was shot in September 1996, federal crime reporting guidelines left the issue up for debate. Campus, as defined by federal law, is "property owned or controlled by an institution within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area and used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner related to, the institution's educational purposes." A recent U.S. Department of Education report concluded that, overall, Penn adheres to these guidelines in its crime reports. Yet while this legal definition may be sufficient for rural or even suburban campuses with clear boundaries, for an urban campus like Penn's it does not realistically describe the area students frequent. Therefore, crimes that occur in even heavy traffic areas may be omitted from the "on campus" crime report. To say that sidewalks in front of University buildings are on campus but that adjacent public streets aren't is arbitrary -- especially when the streets separate classroom, office or dorm buildings. Furthermore, the area legally considered "on campus" is not at all reflective of the area patrolled by University Police -- Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and the Schuylkill River to 43rd Street. The bottom line: The federal definition of "campus" is too simplistic to portray an accurate picture at an urban institution. Clearly, the government needs to re-evaluate its current guidelines for campus crime reports. Perhaps a different standard is necessary for urban and rural campuses. Or, as University President Judith Rodin suggested, maybe more specific categories, such as "university-owned on campus," "university-owned off campus" and "geographical region around the university but not owned by it" would be more appropriate than the current black and white categories of "on campus" or "off campus." Working with a panel of universities, the DOE could explore other definition systems that might provide a more realistic idea of criminal activity. The University has made a commitment to comply with federal guidelines for reporting crime. Even if administrators acknowledge that these guidelines are insufficient, going beyond them would put Penn at a disadvantage when compared to other schools. Thus, the government must improve its definitions to allow for a more accurate picture of crime on all campuses.