Crime is committed on campus on a near-daily basis. In an effort to shed light on whether crimes are committed by people coming onto campus expressly for that purpose or are more random in nature, a new study examines how many arrests at USF involve people not affiliated with the University.

Robin Ersing, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, joined forces with University Police to conduct a study about on-campus crime. The study, called “The Neighborhood Correlates of

On-campus Crime”, analyzes which neighborhoods in Hillsborough County contribute the largest percentage of individuals arrested on campus.

“We wanted to know what amount of crime was being committed on campus by what we call non-affiliates – people not affiliated directly with the University (those who are not students, staff or faculty members),” Ersing said.

Arrest data collected from 2000 through 2005 indicated that 60 percent of all people arrested on campus were non-affiliates – 854 out of 1,431. This information was collected from police reports, for which officers asked arrested individuals to self-report their home addresses. Ersing Crime is committed on campus on a near-daily basis. In an effort to shed light on whether crimes are committed by people coming onto campus expressly for that purpose or are more random in nature, a new study examines how many arrests at USF involve people not affiliated with the University.

Robin Ersing, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, joined forces with University Police to conduct a study about on-campus crime. The study, called “The Neighborhood Correlates of

On-campus Crime”, analyzes which neighborhoods in Hillsborough County contribute the largest percentage of individuals arrested on campus.

“We wanted to know what amount of crime was being committed on campus by what we call non-affiliates – people not affiliated directly with the University (those who are not students, staff or faculty members),” Ersing said.

Arrest data collected from 2000 through 2005 indicated that 60 percent of all people arrested on campus were non-affiliates – 854 out of 1,431. This information was collected from police reports, for which officers asked arrested individuals to self-report their home addresses. Ersing cautioned that the study is only as good as the given addresses. After the addresses were collected, the data were examined and condensed to represent different ZIP codes or census tracts, which allow non-affiliates’ origins to be examined in different ways.

ZIP codes allow researchers to look at the information based on physical location and familiarity. Those surrounding the University area – 33613 and 33612 – housed the highest amounts of non-affiliates arrested on campus, 15 percent. This is the area from Fowler Avenue to Bearss Avenue and from Fletcher Avenue to Interstate 275. Other high-percentage areas are Temple Terrace (33617), with 7 percent, and Seminole Heights (33610), with 4 percent.

However, the U.S. Census Bureau census tracts show smaller areas of 3,000 to 4,000 people, denoted by a number. Using these numbers, the study was able to look at people by their social, economic and employment conditions, and by population and housing characteristics. Census tracts act as a proxy for neighborhoods.

“(Census tracts allow me to see) where people are coming from, who are getting arrested on campus for committing crimes, because I want to go back and look at the relationship between the neighborhood conditions that they are living at,” said Ersing.

The census tract with the largest number of non-affiliates committing on-campus crimes is 108.03, located just north of USF, on the other side of Fletcher Avenue. USF’s tracts number is 109. Tract 108.03 housed 4 percent of non-affiliates who committed crime on campus.

Tract 108.03 “is the tract that we will be taking in with our grant,” said UP Lieutenant Meg Ross. “(We are going) to provide extra police force in that area.”

Three contiguous census tracts – 108.07, 108.06 and 108.03 – account for the highest concentration of non-affiliates arrested. Located north and west of campus, this group has an average poverty rate of 27 percent, twice the national rate. Also, average yearly income in this area is about $22,000, and only 20 percent of the homes are owner-occupied.

Demographically, non-affiliates who commit crime on campus are 84 percent male, 61 percent of whom are white, and their average age is 26. Nine percent are under 18 and 38 percent are black, according to the study.

About 43 percent of non-affiliates are arrested for crimes that fall under the category of ‘all other offenses,’ which includes traffic violations, such as driving with a suspended license, driving an unregistered car, reckless driving or committing a hit-and-run.

The second-highest category is outstanding warrants, accounting for 22 percent of non-affiliates arrested. The third-highest is drug abuse violations, with 15 percent of non-affiliate arrests for possessing, buying or selling illegal drugs. Someone charged with possession, however, must be shown to have intent to use, which is often hard to prove, Ross said.

A comparison of different areas on campus indicates that the Greek Village area had 3.5 percent of all non-affiliated arrests on campus. The Sun Dome comes in second at 3.1 percent, and the Crescent Hill Parking Garage is third with 2.4 percent. In general, Ross said, parking garages are a special case.

“There are a lot more ways to be able to commit crimes without being seen in a garage. In parking lots you can have people driving by, but in a garage, just driving past the garage isn’t going to catch anybody,” she said.

One caveat to this study is that these statistics show where arrests occur but not necessarily where crimes are actually being committed. It also does not show what crimes are being committed on campus, just which crimes non-affiliates were arrested for. An arrest does not guarantee a conviction, and it is possible that some of these non-affiliates were later proven innocent, which the study does not take into account.

Ersing said the bigger goal of the study is to build a relationship between the University and the community. She described USF as being a small city, but not an island.

USF’s metropolitan location makes its relationship with the community of the utmost importance.

It’s important to recognize that crime can be committed anywhere, and that working toward partnerships with UP and the community can help lower crime rates and raise awareness, Ersing said.

“We need to take responsibility for ourselves,” she said. “We need to do whatever we can to make ourselves safe, whether you’re on the campus or off the campus.”