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Augustana Releases Annual Safety Report

tom phillis safety.PNG
Photo from Augustana College
Tom Phillis, Augustana chief of police talking to students

"Lock your doors, lock your doors, lock your doors." That's the message from Tom Phillis, Chief of Police for Augustana College, looking at this year's security and fire safety report.

Phillis says even though the report for 2021 shows very few break-ins and cars stolen from campus, that's because it only counts if a vehicle is taken, not broken into. And it doesn't count if the car was parked off-campus.

But he's trying hard to reduce these numbers.

"We're doing that through education about making sure you lock your doors, you don't leave anything valuable in your vehicles. And we have installed some cameras in some of our parking lots and we are in the process of trying to install more."

The report also shows a higher number of what he calls sexual violence cases. Phillis says one reason might be that Augustana has developed a culture where people feel comfortable reporting.

Liquor law violations and sexual violence also likely increased in 2021 because more people were back on campus after COVID restrictions loosened.

"The other thing we try and do is build positive relationships wih our campus community, so again, if people see something that they feel comfortable reporting it to us. So that we can respond in a timely manner."

The full report can be viewed with statistics and safety suggestions on thecollege's website.