Coe College adds cameras to enhance student safety

Movers filled the west edge of the Coe College campus, hauling in new furniture to Murray Hall, one of the Coe dormitories as the newest class will arrive on campus by August 24th.

Yet just past the east edge of campus, police investigators spent Thursday afternoon walking door-to-door in the 1500 block of E Avenue NE, after a 42-year-old woman was found with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. It is important to note this person was not found on campus but about 300 feet past the softball field, on the northeast edge of campus.

“We have a very safe campus,” said Rod Pritchard, director of marketing and public relations at the college. “Our statistics indicate we are as safe as any campus.”

On-campus crime statistics from the federal government, provided through the college for the time period of January 2007 to December 2009:

- 0 cases of murder, robbery, arson and motor vehicle thefts.

- 7 cases of forcible sexual assault

- 34 burglary reports

- 3 weapons possession cases

Pritchard said Coe is like many other private colleges in Iowa in that it has a “residential requirement” of students, not just underclassmen. First-year students are assigned to one of the campus dormitories. Upperclassmen then get priority for the on-campus apartments, most of which are on the east side of campus.

“I give tours and it's usually the parents who will ask,” said senior Jay Caughren, who grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., and chose to attend college at Coe. “Common sense goes a long way.”

Pritchard said the activities and programs on the Coe campus are intended to encourage students to stay on campus during evenings and weekend. He said about 45% of the student body is from outside of Iowa.

One of the first programs the new students will be offered is when Cedar Rapids police come to Coe to talk about student safety.

“Students come to Coe because they want the urban environment,” said Pritchard. “We embrace the fact that we are in an urban neighborhood. We want students to stay safe in the neighborhoods.”

16 newly-installed cameras are overlooking various buildings and entrances. Pritchard said the cameras are recorded on a “24/7 basis” for review of any incidents that occur on-campus.