Student housing a target for petty crime

Student renters say they want more safety resources in housing areas.

Sitting one mile from Indiana State University’s campus is University Apartments. The monthly rent starts at $3,435 and is paid through ISU student room and board fees, similar to the way students pay for dorms on campus.

The rent at these apartments is often paid for by Indiana taxpayers, as many UA apartments are occupied by students in the 21st Century Scholar program. In Indiana, the 21st Century Scholar program pays tuition, room, board, and book fees for college students who qualify, based on a family income of $60,000 or less and a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above.

The rent students pay gives them a roof over their heads, but not necessarily a sense of security, said Gracie Byrum, a recent ISU graduate. Byrum spent her senior year living in University Apartments and serving as a Resident Assistant, tending to residents’ needs and enforcing complex rules. She said her apartment was in good condition, but the environment outside left her and other residents with safety concerns.

“I lived in a one bedroom apartment and no, it wasn’t the cutest, but it was honestly just fine,” she said. “The only thing that concerned me was the safety and security of the building.”

Byrum said property crimes were the biggest problem.

“My residents would repeatedly get their cars broken into and in some extreme cases it would cause damage to the vehicles,” she said.

According to the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department database, the most recent crimes reported at the University Apartments complext were vandalism, car break-ins, and even a robbery at gunpoint.

The Terre Haute Police Department also identifies the area of Farrington’s Grove and university housing on First Street as crime hot spots. But because these crimes are considered “petty crimes” — vandalism and theft — students feel solving them is a low priority for law enforcement.

Further, some basic crime prevention technology is lacking in student areas of the community. Emergency phones, known as “Blue Light Phones,” have a single large button that, when pressed, immediately calls police to the location.

At Indiana State University these are placed strategically throughout campus so that students can see multiple phone locations at once, in order to allow police to track anyone being chased. These Blue Light Phones, which cost about $7500 to install, are to be placed on every ISU-owned property, including all student living facilities.

All except for the University Apartments, Byrum said.

“It was always so crazy to me that we didn’t have these phones considering how dangerous this area can be,” she said. “It makes my stomach hurt thinking about the amount of crime the installation of these phones could’ve prevented”.

In fall semester 2022, the Gender450 class on student activism hosted an “Take back the Night,” an annual resource fair and march on campus that advocates for student safety, especially those whose socioeconomic backgrounds make them especially vulnerable.

This year’s event focused heavily on the University Apartments, which residents said has been overlooked by the university.

Jason Mott, a 21st Century Scholar and resident at the UAs said, he doesn’t feel safe parking his vehicle in the UA parking lot, recalling the multiple times his vehicle has been broken into.

“I’m a construction management major, which means they saw my truck as a target because I always have my nice tools with me,” Mott said. “The burglars see trucks and it’s an automatic target.”

Mott said he wants ISU to do more to protect the safety and property of students at the UAs.

“Its almost like the university simply doesn’t care about us because we are seen as the lower income students and therefore less important,” he said.

ISU had not responded to request for comment at press time.