Campus Crimes and Student Safety Precautions: Implications to Campus Security Processes

Abstract

Schools should assure the entire studentry safety and security along with the delivery of quality education. This mixed-methods study aimed to explore campus crimes and security measures being experienced by college students. It employed the sequential explanatory strategy to analyze survey and interview data, including student experiences and perception of campus crimes and security that were gathered through the use of a researcher-made questionnaire and face-to-face interview. Results revealed that the respondents had personally heard, experienced and witnessed such campus crimes as kidnappings, within-campus family feuds, murders, gunshots, ambuscades, boarding house ransacks, fire incidents and thieveries. Respondents also emphasized that they were not aware of any school administration’s security plans and processes, which were perceived as effective tools to maintain campus security. In addition, they reported doing such safety precautions as residing to dormitories that implemented curfew hours, keeping themselves away from suspicious vehicles, and equipping some protective personal measures. By implication, the respondents felt unsecure and had experienced campus crimes as they stayed in the campus. All these findings suggest that the school administration should implement appropriate and structured campus security processes, which must be visible to students to create a learning environment that nurtures students’ peace of mind and sustains quality education.