GHC crime-free for three years

Patrick Daniel

Georgia Highlands College recently released crime statistics for 2022. The institution has not had a reported crime incident since 2019.

Chris Daniel, Staff Writer & Artist

The recently released Georgia Highlands crime report for 2022 documented no major incidents. This is the third consecutive year that the report has been crime-free, making GHC one of the safest institutions in the state.

Crime and safety is a major concern for both students and faculty as they move about campus. The GHC record of low crime is an asset to everyone who arrives on campus daily to conduct the business of higher education.

Alex Stokes, a student at GHC said, “This campus is a lot safer than most campuses I’ve been on.”

Each site has its own office and certified officers patrol the campuses in both marked cars and on foot. They respond to and follow up on all reported incidents of crime along with local law enforcement.

“We have a great working relationship with local law enforcement and the visible presence of our outside security contractor, Dynamic Security, helps keep our campuses quiet and safe,’’ GHC Chief of Police, David Horace, said.

Horace seeks to continue the consecutive crime-free streak. “We would like to institute more crime awareness programming and more preventative measures,” Horace said. “We look to pick back up on these things where we necessarily had to leave off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Some other schools are not so fortunate. According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, both Kennesaw State University and the University of West Georgia reported crime.

In 2019, KSU reported 3.98 incidents, which works out to 10.53 per 1,000 students. UWG reported 172 incidents in that same year, 12.99 per 1,000 students. GHC reported a single incident that year.

GHC students and faculty are aware of the position they are in at the school. “This campus doesn’t have the same issues that the bigger campuses have,” Cindy Wheeler, GHC professor of English, said.

Campus housing is the source of some of the problems with crime on larger campuses. While GHC campus police do not have campus housing to patrol, it does have to contend with five different campuses which are miles apart. The spread-out nature of GHC creates logistic complications in the effort to ensure a safe and secure educational environment.

All colleges and universities must release a report of their crime statistics yearly in accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure Act. These reports are available from the U.S. Department of Education or directly through the schools themselves.