The report was drawn up by the Oxford University Security Services, who compile thousands of hours of CCTV footage every year and liaise with the Thames Valley Police to prevent crime across the University and beyond. This dip is in line with current national trends. This year has seen a 9% drop in the number of crimes reported across England and Wales, thought to be the lowest incidence since 1981.
In the Complete University Guide’s most recent investigation into the safety of students in 120 UK higher education institutions, Oxford came 31st. Nevertheless Paul Sullivan, OUSS’s acting head of security, has commented ‘Although it is pleasing to be able to report a reduction in crime across the University, we should not become complacent. The University will never become a crime-free zone.’
The report isolates incoming students as being particularly at risk of losing their possessions, “New students bring with them valuable possessions in the form of laptops, iPods and cycles. Most of the items are both individually valuable and attractive to the opportunist thief.”
The report also warns that Michaelmas inevitably sees a spike in thefts, as befuddled first-years struggle to navigate themselves and their possessions safely through the week amid a sea of distractions. Their confusion is a boon to the ‘local, prolific criminals’ described in OUSS’ report.
The news that, statistically speaking, stolen goods represents the greatest threat facing students has come as a relief to those cowed by warnings in previous years about fraudsters stealing phones by impersonating police officers, and about serial attackers targeting lone students walking home in the small hours.
A spokesman for the University has commented, “The University takes safety, security and welfare of its students extremely seriously and offers a wide range of advice on these issues. A guide to personal safety and crime prevention, along with a list of useful contacts for help and advice, are available in the Security Services section of the University website. Any student who believes they have been a victim of crime should contact the police in the first instance.”
According to the data, you are most likely to get your bike stolen on a weekday afternoon (between 2pm and 6pm) from a hotspot, around the science buildings, the Keble road or the area surrounding the Said Business School. From the 7th -10th October, OUSS will be instituting operation ‘Safeguard’: uniformed officers will patrol theft flashpoints around the city, increasing surveillance of these areas and the visibility of OUSS.
The website OUSS maintains as an administrative department contains advice on how students can guard against becoming the victims of preventable crimes. They emphasise the importance of securing bikes with an adequate lock, preferably a D-lock. University staff and students alike are encouraged to combat tail-gating as far as they can by taking a robust approach to challenging unknown or suspicious visitors.
Robert O’Regan, a Brookes law student, commented “I do feel pretty safe in Oxford and it doesn’t really surprise me that crime rates have gone down in the city. I’ve noticed an increased police presence on the streets. Then again, 10% is a lot. I wouldn’t have expected crime to drop that much. After all, Brookes has just expanded to take more students, so I might have thought crime rates would rise rather than fall.”
Lydia Stephens, a third-year Exeter classicist and aspiring police officer, was less optimistic, saying, “It comes as a bit of a surprise that crime rates have fallen, although I’d be a bit wary – obviously, fewer reports don’t necessarily mean less crime. Really, though, It’s the tourists I feel sorry for. They walk around with bright yellow rucksacks that stick out a mile. You can almost see the thieves following with their tongues hanging out. Well, rise or fall, tourist or resident, there’s still no harm in being careful.”
