MichiganRadio

Rethinking Campus Crime UNDATED (Associated Press) -

Michigan's public universities are beefing up their campus police forces, installing high-resolution surveillance cameras and taking other steps to prevent campus crime.

After the massacres at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois in 2007 and 2008, colleges refocused their safety approaches with mass alert systems and emergency preparedness plans.

But the Detroit Free Press reports that campuses have also been retooling how they keep students safe from day-to-day crime.

Many colleges now have mounted surveillance cameras that can pan an entire campus while also zooming onto a single license plate.

As students return for fall classes and freshmen adjust to life away from home, college police say that staying safe often requires little more than using some common sense.
© Copyright 2012, Associated Press