BUPD shared the annual campus safety report to students and staff. Photo by Elizabeth Stevenson.
OLLIE FITZGERALD | STAFF REPORTER | ofitzgerald@butler.edu
The Butler University Police Department (BUPD) publicly released the 2024 Butler University Annual Security and Fire Safety report on Sept. 13. According to the data, a majority of reported crimes within BUPD’s jurisdiction have decreased from 2022 to 2023 with some exceptions including stalking, domestic violence and hate crimes.
BUPD releases a report of the crimes they process because of The Jeanne Clery Act. The Clery Act legally requires that universities report campus crime data, support victims of violence and publicly post the policies they have put in place to improve campus safety. Butler’s annual safety report outlines all of the topics the university is mandated to report on.
Chief of BUPD John Conley explained that BUPD reports the amount of crimes that are officially reported to the police department. If students don’t report crimes directly to BUPD by calling and filing a report they will not appear in the annual and daily safety reports.
“I have not seen a rise in crimes that raise a red flag that says [a specific crime is] rampant,” Conley said. “Every year, we have 25% new people on campus so [safety] becomes an educational process all over again.”
BUPD’s community relations officer Matthew Grimes engages with the students and faculty to educate them on how to stay safe on campus. Grimes also manages the BUPD social media accounts to help reassure students and parents that the campus is safe.
Grimes touched on several available resources that make it easier for students to help keep each other safe, such as Dawg Alerts and the Indiana Lifeline Law, which protects an intoxicated person under the age of 21 who calls 911 in an alcohol-related emergency.
“If somebody needs help please call [911],” Grimes said. “We don’t [want] somebody to get seriously injured, heaven forbid, killed. Sign up for the Dawg Alerts [and] you’ll be notified on your phone. Register your bicycle [and] register your laptop so in case it gets stolen, we have the serial number.”
Conley and Grimes also spoke about campus security being a collective effort. They emphasized that students should watch out for each other, try to follow the buddy system and if they see something, say something.
“I tell everybody that every person on campus is a member of the security team,” Grimes said. “If you see something, please pick up the phone, give BUPD a call, or go to one of the blue light phones that are located throughout campus. We need everyone’s eyes and ears. If you see something suspicious, please call.”
Despite BUPD’s safety measures, some students have found them unreliable.
Sophomore criminology-psychology major Danielle Temores said in an email to The Butler Collegian that BUPD failed to assist her and a friend in returning home safely.
“My friend and I … were out late on a Thursday and Dawg Ride was not responding,” Temores said. “We called BUPD for an escort ride and … [BUPD] said that ‘Dawg Ride should be there, you do not need us.’ Then my friend and I were not able to get an escort or a ride, so we both walked alone in the dark from I-Lot.”
While Temores’ experience was negative, BUPD still encourages students to call them with safety concerns.
BUPD has both emergency and non-emergency numbers that students can call. The emergency line is the priority phone line and will be answered at all times. Students can also click the red police button on the Butler App which will direct students to the emergency line.
BUPD provides more resources on its website. There is information on various emergency responses, a booklet of options and rights for victims of sexual crimes and other policy, procedure and safety resources.
“Call us and talk to us,” Conley said. “We’re parents [and] we’re kids of somebody else too. We’re just people [who have] taken on a mission to help. That’s what we’re here for.”
