Dallas College released its annual crime report on October 1. This report was sent via email to all Dallas College students and employees, however, at 163 pages, they may not feel inclined to read through it. Never fear, The Et Cetera has taken the time to study the report and break it down for you.

The report includes important information on all seven campuses, covering what the College Police will do in an emergency and how students should respond to emergency situations, including bomb threats, fires and violent intruders. It also discusses emergency drills on campus and what the procedure for those should be. 

Many students got to experience an emergency drill at Eastfield firsthand when there was an unannounced intruder lockdown drill on September 24. 

Student Blessing Nwogu was in the Student Life office when the drill was initiated. At the time, Nwogu wasn’t aware if the situation was real or a drill. When asked about her experience she shared that many of the students did not take the drill seriously and since she didn’t know if it was just a drill or a real event, she was incredibly uncomfortable. 

Nwogu shared, “Many of the times we joke and take things for granted, don’t let a momentary loss of time potentially cost the lives of those around you due to your lack of seriousness.” This is a great reminder for all students to take drills seriously, as they serve an important purpose in preparing for a real emergency and you aren’t always certain if an event is a drill or the real thing.

Emergency drills are listed in the annual report (pg. 40) and it does note the date, time, type of drill, as well as if the drill was announced or unannounced. Announced drills are scheduled in advance and get listed on the Student Life Calendar. Eastfield’s lone security drill for 2023, a fire drill in September, was listed as unannounced. 

The report also breaks down the many types of crimes and their definitions that College Police may respond to. This information may be helpful if you ever find yourself in violation of any of these rules. More helpful still are the many resources listed in the report for students to use if they are victims of a crime or see one they need to report. These include the numbers of each campus police office, local authorities, local hospitals (pgs. 19-22), as well as other national and community resources that students may find helpful (pgs. 80-91). When in doubt, students can always call the central dispatch number 972-860-4290. Calling this number from any campus and giving your location will alert local campus authorities to your distress and they will dispatch an officer.

Towards the end of the report, there is a listing of all crimes committed on campus, off campus and on public property surrounding campus for the calendar years of 2021, 2022 and 2023. 

This information takes up nearly a third of the report, running from pgs. 107-162. It was a great comfort to scroll through this part of the report and see primarily zeros listed in so many places. Of note, at Eastfield in 2023, there was one report of car theft, two reports of stalking, two arrests for drug violations on campus and one off campus. 

Across all seven Dallas College campuses, El Centro ranked the worst with 39 crimes reported during the last three years, though many of those crimes were not reported on campus and were likely due to its location downtown. Eastfield was solidly in the middle with 24 reported crimes during the same three-year period. Cedar Valley, according to the report, is the safest of all Dallas College campuses, coming in with only seven reported crimes. 

As we approach the end of the 2024 calendar year, these statistics feel perhaps a little outdated. If you are interested in more up-to-date information about crime on campus, each campus police office keeps a monthly crime log which the report states is available upon request. Eastfield’s Police Office can be found on the lower level of the N building. If you would like to access the full report, it can be found at www.dallascollege.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/docs/police-safety/asr-2024.pdf or by searching the Dallas College website for “annual security report.” 

There students can select any security report from the last five years to view. On the topic of safety on campus, all students should be aware of and have downloaded the Dallas College Safety App. From this app, you can report a crime tip anonymously, notify the campus police of an emergency and even request a friend walk, which will track your walk to your car or across campus via GPS if you’re feeling unsafe. There are also interactive campus maps for all of DCCCD and many other helpful tools. In the app store, the icon for the app is the Dallas College logo in red. Stay safe out there!