Police:
stats offer false sense of security
By Kat Greene
Lexington police Lt. A.M. “Bucky” Miller says the city isn’t as safe as people might think.
In 2005, the latest year for which statistics are available, the city reported 219 crimes to the FBI, including seven violent crimes. The violent crimes came after the city had zero violent crimes in 2004. Overall, last year's numbers represent a 29 percent decrease. Even with the jump in violent crimes, these are relatively small numbers, reflecting life in a quiet little college town.
But Miller said that the low crime rate does not mean that the city is a safe place.
On Oct. 17, Miller and police Chief Steven Crowder met with Washington and Lee University’s Inter-Fraternity Council to discuss safety issues facing the city’s college student population. The presidents of 14 of the university’s male Greek organizations comprise the council.
“Lexington is not what you think it is,” Miller said at the meeting. He said that students are vulnerable, paradoxically, because they feel safe in the small city.
“I am a firm believer that something bad is going to happen,” he said. “It’s coming.”
He described an incident earlier this month in which a 19-year-old W&L student was arrested and charged with underage possession of alcohol and being drunk in public. The police report indicates that something much more sinister than an alcohol violation may have taken place.
According to the report, Lexington police Officer Ron Condry spotted three men following the woman down Washington Street on Oct. 8 at 2:55 a.m. When Condry stopped to speak to the woman, who was “staggering” down the street, the three males ran away.
One of the men was picked up later that night for being drunk in public.
There were several other incidents involving Washington & Lee students in October, including a peeping tom and a trespasser.
Michael Lee Dunn, 25, was arrested and charged with peeping into the Massie Street home of a female student, and Franklin Wilson Peters, 18, was issued a summons for trespassing on university property.
Michael Young, director of Washington & Lee University public safety, said that too often, students are overly trusting of strangers.
“Students need to be really aware of what is going on around them,” he said. “This isn’t Disneyland.”
Crowder said that it is up to the students themselves to stay safe around town. “Someone has got to step up to the plate,” he said.
Though there were no murders or rapes reported in 2005, seven of the reported crimes were violent -- five robberies and two assaults.
Miller said he is worried that it is going to take something drastic to make citizens understand their risks.
He said, “We’ve got to change the way we operate.”
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd