Chris Martini thinks Hillsdale College students live in a bubble.
“Campus is perceived as a bubble,” said Martini, director of campus security and emergency management. “Students think that things can’t happen here.”
Martini said this notion is rooted, to some degree, in reality.
“There’s certainly a different perception on campus . . . the level of criminal activity is lower.”
Furthermore, Martini said, there has been no significant “spillover” of crime from Hillsdale proper to the campus in his time as director.
The area surrounding Hillsdale’s campus is not an unusually crime-ridden area, as a statistical report called a CAP Index indicates.
In fact, the crime rate for Hillsdale is lower than typical, according to statistical analysis provided by Martini.
The CAP Index shows the risk of crime at a given location, with scores on a scale from 0 to 2000, 100 being average. The Hillsdale College campus CAP Index is 69, indicating lower risk than average.
Even so, Martini endeavors to prevent crime from spreading to the college. Among other things, he cooperates with local authorities.
“We are in regular communication with city, county, and state police. We coordinate if there is an issue in the community that may have an impact on campus, or an issue on campus that may have an impact on the community.”
“We have a great working relationship.”
Sheriff Stan Burchardt of the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Department agrees.
“We have worked with [Hillsdale College] security people, mostly on prevention issues. We’ve done drills with the permission of the college administration’s approval for things like active shooters and terrorists.”
Concerning the degree of crime in Hillsdale, Burchardt said it’s probably “not any better or worse” than in surrounding counties, qualifying that such a judgment is hard to make without statistical information.
“It really depends on the crime. We have less homicide, but more theft, and a serious drug problem.”
Statistics provided on the Michigan State Police website bear out Burchardt’s claims.
According to data for Hillsdale in 2010, the most recent year available, there were 378 incidents of crimes against property, such as theft and forced entry, 83 violations of controlled substance, four narcotic equipment violations, and no incidences of murder or manslaughter, negligent or non-negligent.
