Editorial:

Student security should be priority

Published Sept. 5, 2008

Preventing crimes before they happen in the first place is the most effective way to ensure student safety at MU. Researching ways to improve security directly should be a main focus for the Missouri Students Association, the Residential Halls Association and MU administrators.

RHA Vice President Nate Ballance, MSA Vice President Chelsea Johnson and Department of Student Services Director Jordan Paul are meeting with Residential Life Director Frankie Minor about plans for security camera installation in residence halls. Under the current plan, the Department of Residential Life will install cameras to catch vandalism and theft at entrances and in common areas in all residence halls by 2018. Student leaders want to speed up the process - a venture with a $120,000 price tag.

It's true that cameras could catch students damaging or stealing residence hall property, meaning that only those students violating policies would have to pay for repairs or replacements.

But the cameras wouldn't do much to deter theft from dorm rooms because cameras would not be placed in hallways. Also, the cameras themselves won't do much to improve student security near entrances either. Like blue lights, they would offer a false sense of security. What we need are concrete safety measures, like a constant "swipe-in" policy at residence halls.

$120,000 is a lot of extra money spent to simply speed up a process when Residential Life would already have all cameras installed by 2018. That money could be used for something else, including fixing the condom machines and purchasing future supplies or instituting more security measures in and around residence halls.

As for theft in individual student rooms, prevention is simple. Students need to lock their doors. Sure, the residential life department encourages an "open door policy," but it's suggesting you leave your door open to meet other people while you're in the room. Every time you leave, you need to lock your door. Otherwise you're offering yourself and your possessions to unwanted intruders.

We strongly urge Johnson and MSA President Jim Kelley to continue to make campus security a major priority during their time as MSA leaders. Although speeding up the camera installation process won't make us much safer, taking a look at what's helped at other campuses might - MSA and RHA should work together to find ways to keep students safe before crimes even have a chance to occur.