Suburban campuses relatively quiet

By Steve Visser

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Crime comes to every college campus in metro Atlanta, but the misdeeds tend to be less frequent and less severe at suburban schools than at the campuses downtown.

“It is kind of boring,” Georgia Gwinnett College Chief Terry Schneider. “We have had a few arrests for possession. They were friends [of students], the wrong kind of friends.”

Kennesaw State University Chief Ted Cochran, however, said criminals near KSU had one thing in common with those working near campuses in Atlanta: they were usually townies coming to prey on students.

KSU police set up checkpoints to monitor comings and goings around dorms.

"We put folks on notice that we are here,” he said. “Our main concern is entering autos. Our non-property crimes are few and far between, but we’re afraid [a car break-in] could become a person-to-person crime if somebody walked up on it.”

Clayton State University Police Chief Bobby Hamil said car break-ins also tend to be his biggest problem, but he said the campus has been enhancing lighting and fencing to try to keep more dangerous thieves at bay. The university also set up checkpoints from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. to monitor comings and goings.

"We have a wrought-iron fence on the front of the campus for both aesthetics and security -- that wasn't there two years ago," he said. "You kind of know what you have inside the campus but you don’t know what will come in looking for a target of opportunity.”