A new Web site, UCrime.com, is now available for current and potential university and college students as a source for information about crimes committed on or around campuses.
Colin Drane, president of UCrime and University alumnus, said he believes the site is important because he feels strongly that crime “data in the public’s hands is a good thing [because] it improves public safety.”
The Web site has access to information from universities through the Clery Act of 1990, which requires universities to make their crime statistics public knowledge. Drane explained that this allows current students to make advised decisions about where they want to live on and around campus, while also enabling potential students to use schools’ crime statistics to decide which institution they want to attend.
On the Web site, each crime is represented by an icon — for example, a bag of money for a robbery, a gun for a shooting — so users can view crimes overlaid onto a map of their area.
UCrime is partially supported by its sister project, SpotCrime.com, which provides a similar service for residents of 190 cities throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Drane said the two Web sites often share information so students who live off-campus can view information from their area.
The Web site also has a feature that allows for “user-reported crimes” — permitting witnesses to add crimes about which police departments have not yet released information.
University Police Lieut. Melissa Fielding said although she approved of “anything students do to be more aware,” she would suggest that they “start with the U.Va. crime log and check with local authorities.”
These are resources, Fielding said, that provide access to more accurate information. Fielding added that letting users report crimes could lead to “potentially inaccurate or duplicated information.”
Fourth-year College student Lauren Knotts, though, said she feels that the site has potential. She said although she had never used it herself, her roommate started checking it after the recent shootings at University Heights.
Third-year College student Jessica Burris, on the other hand, said she does not think a site like UCrime would be very helpful.
“I don’t think it would really influence any of my decisions,” Burris said, noting that students “need to take precautions anyway. [UCrime] would just add to paranoia.”
Looking toward the future, UCrime has plans for improving its site, Drane said, noting that it wants to expand service to more schools than those currently served.
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