People aren't concerned about campus safety until something happens to them, UNM Police Officer Karen Smith said Thursday.
Smith was addressing the low turnout at the Campus Safety Forum in Regener Hall where a handful of students gathered to question four panelists about procedures and precautions UNM takes in assuring student safety.
The panelists included Smith; Robert Dunnington, campus safety manager; Judicial Affairs Specialist Rob Burford from the Dean of Students Office and Josh Kavanagh, Parking and Transportation Services' public information representative. All four agreed that campus safety is a low priority for most of the UNM community, but Burford said that people not showing up in droves to campus safety meetings is a positive thing.
"It's a good sign that something big hasn't happened," he said.
Kavanagh added that events such as campus safety meetings seem to be more meaningful after a large crime occurs, such as sexual assault, but that it is still important for the community to stay aware.
Smith said that the campus needs to work as a community to help keep it secure. She urged students to report anything "fishy looking" right away by using a cell phone or one of the blue campus-safety phones.
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She said students are more likely to catch suspicious behavior than officers in patrol cars because students are unlikely informants. She said the student security patrol also helps in that regard.
"The bad guys see us coming," she said. "They don't see them coming."
Burford said people need to take a certain amount of responsibility by locking their doors and staying aware. He said students don't need to be members of the campus safety committee to report concerns.
He said that his department wants to educate students to notice safety concerns.
"We're always looking for better ways so students will listen," Burford said.
Dunnington said that people can increase building security by locking doors behind them when they go into a building after hours.
Students also raised concerns about campus police call response time. Smith explained that the police department has 20 officers split across six shifts, which is why problems with response time can occur. UNMPD also is recruiting, she added.
"We try to get there as fast as we can," Smith said. "It's important to us. We enjoy it when we catch those guys."
Kavanagh said that if students want to suggest funding changes, such as allocating more money to the police department, they should write to the administration.
"For a funding shift at UNM you need to put it in writing," he said. "Telephone calls are hard to quantify."
Kavanagh added that all departments should pool their resources to improve campus safety and keep the public aware of what everyone is doing to work toward the goal.
