Sep 25, 2009
Our law schools are more dangerous than yours
Both of Maryland’s law schools are located on campuses that are among the most dangerous in the country, according to a new ranking.
Both the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland-Baltimore made The Daily Beast’s list of the 25 most dangerous colleges. In fact, UMB is the third most dangerous school in the country, according to this list. The rankings are based in part on crime data the schools are required to report to the federal government and in part on crime stats for the surrounding neighborhoods.
Maryland has the dubious distinction of having more schools on the list than any other state except Massachusetts. The other dangerous colleges in the Free State are University of Maryland-Eastern Shore and Bowie State University. Notably, the Johns Hopkins University is not on there.
No Maryland schools made The Daily Beast’s list of the 25 safest colleges.
Students at the “dangerous” Maryland schools: do the rankings ring true? Do you feel unsafe on campus?
(An aside: I’m proud that my alma mater didn’t make the list. To my dad, who was worried about me going there because of safety concerns: I told you so.)
HT: TaxProf Blog via Above the Law.
When you look at the crime statistics that the schools have to report it is a list of the crime SURROUNDING the schools and NOT at all crime directed at the school or the student body. So yeah, obviously in Baltimore City you are going to have a lot of crime surrounding schools in the downtown area (and for Maryland, so close to Hollins market) but that doesn’t make the SCHOOL dangerous. The Daily Beast list is dangerously disingenuous.
The characterization of the University of Baltimore School of Law as one of the most dangerous schools in the country is a gross mischaracterization of the realities of the situation. The immediate neighborhood north of the school, notably North Avenue is admittedly a high crime area no different than the high crime areas surrounding Johns Hopkins. Yet on the campus itself and in the revitalized neighborhoods surrounding the campus and continuing down into Mount Vernon one would be hard pressed to call it a dangerous area. The realities of Baltimore are such that if one is to go too many blocks in any given direction one may find themselves in the high crime areas of the city. Yet within the University of Baltimore neighborhood itself one can hardly say that it feels like one of the 25 most dangerous law schools in the country. The author is a Tax L.L.M. student at the University of Baltimore School of Law
Hmm lets see.. last weekend in Baltimore, 13 shootings, 15 victims and 3 dead. I can see why UMB would be top 3 on that list.
That said, i never felt threatened in the 3 years i attended law school there. I know some people who were mugged but no major crimes occurred during my stay.
Duh, they’re in Baltimore.
The Daily Beast’s list has been ridiculed and its methodology shredded by almost every blog that has reported on it. This is the first time I’ve seen anyone take it seriously. Who administers this blog, high school students?
The UMB alum has a point but it is that the UMB Law School did not develop his analytical powers. The fact that there were 13 shootings in Baltimore last weekend does not say anything about the dangerousness of the UMB neighborhood (other than it is likely some of the victims were taken there – to the hospital). And for the “thirteen” number to be significant in a comparative sense one would have to know the equivalent number from other cities. By itself it tells us nothing about comparative dangerousness (which was the subject of the Daily Beast “study.”) Maybe he/she should have paid more attention in class.
I was Director of Security at the Maryland Institute College of Art when the Cleary Act was passed and colleges receiving federal funding were first required to report campus crime statistics. Urban campuses of colleges have great discretion to determine which crimes occur on campus. This allows Hopkins to side step reporting the robbery-death committed in self defense by its student. Hopkins also does not have to report greek-life-related assaults to students and neighbors that occur only inches away from “official” JHU buildings. As an adjunct professor at both UMD and UB, I have observed their respective campus police and security personnel’s professionalism in policing the campuses and reporting crime to students. Both are effective at protecting their students, faculty and staff members.
Debating campus crime stastics is a distrraction from the real problem. The true solution to Baltimore’s crime problems is happening incrementally on North Avenue as Dr. Alonzo and the BCPS beat the drums to get everyone in the community to help keep our troubled students in school and effectively learning. Rather than pointing fingers, all of us have a duty to volunteer in mentoring and tutoring all of our children and eventually Baltimore’s reputation as Murdermore will fade away.
I have taught at both Maryland law schools. If your question is really do you feel safe “on campus,” then I would answer yes. If, however, your question is whether you feel safe once you leave campus and, say, walk to your car, my answer would be no.
While the area surrounding UMB campus has a fairly high crime rate, the campus itself is one of the safest places in the city–at least it was in 2008 according to the Police Chief Cleveland Barnes. There is generally a police cruiser or van parked on just about every street, and patrolmen standing watch on the seedier corners. Students can get a police escort to the parking garage or their parked car. And, students who live within appx 1.5 miles of the heart of the campus can get a ride home during the evening and night hours.
Some people do get mugged occasionally. But unless one is completely oblivious or fraternizing with the criminal element, the most one is likely to suffer is having the gps stolen out of the car.
Interestingly, I was outside the law school a few months ago, and a random man at the bus stop attempted to sell me firearms. I was not so much put off by the alcohol on his breath or his tattered clothing, as I was by the fact that he could not verify that he was a licensed firearm dealer. While the opportunity to obtain significantly discounted firearms with no waiting period was tempting, I politely declined and informed him that the law school entrance might not be the best location to solicit business.
LOL @ HBC. Perhaps I should have paid attention in class. Oh well it is too late now.
The last time I checked, no law student lives in the law school. They have to walk out of the campus to their cars and homes. I highly doubt these criminals stop to ask their victims if they attend the law schools before they shoot or rob them.
The fact that there were 13 shootings in the city (FYI the UMB campus is considered part of the city) does give some indication as to how safe the UMB neighborhood is. Not every student can afford to live within a block of the law school. So crime occurring in the city is something that the students are exposed to or potentially exposed to. Commonsense indicates that 13 shootings over a 3 day period in a city that is not a war zone is a tad bit too much. You need a comparative study to convince you that the city is not a dangerous place? I guess commonsense is not so common these days.