UNL students discuss crime concerns

LINCOLN, Nebraska (KLKN) – When they arrive at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, many students are confronted with something they are not used to: crime.

“To be honest, I had some concerns about my safety at first,” said freshman Hayden Ricley. “I can go anywhere at any time of day in my small town because nothing happens there. It's really boring.”

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department handles crime on campus.

According to the UNLPD crime log, seven thefts and several suspicious characters were reported on campus in the last month.

According to Lincoln police, there were 141 reports of nonviolent crimes within a 1-mile radius of campus during the same period.

And as the data shows, there are 41 cases of physical assault in this area.

But Marty Fehringer, deputy police chief of the UNLPD, said that police are mostly observing non-serious crimes on campus.

He said the department has a Safe Walk program to help students get home safely.

If students are afraid to walk home, they can always call UNLPD and ask for a free ride home.

“People are often not aware of it,” said Fehringer. “And once they are aware of it, they naturally use it more often.”

Ricley said Wednesday she needed a ride back to her dorm room.

“Last night I came home from the gym at about 9:30 p.m. and called one of my friends because I was scared to go out alone,” she said.

Ricley said she wishes she had known about the Safe Walk program sooner, but for now she wants to continue to play it safe.

Another UNL student, Meleah Eickhoff, said she feels safer now that she knows about the program.

She makes it a point not to be alone at night.

“But just knowing … that the university has ways to make sure people return to their dorms safely is really nice,” she said.