TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – While residents in Florida's capital are more likely to become victims of a crime than anywhere else in the state, one area of Tallahassee has seen a big drop in crime.
Despite Leon County having the highest crime rate in the state -- 5,294 crimes per 100,000 people -- Florida A&M University reported that crime on campus dropped by nearly by 50 percent last year to its lowest rate since 2000.
FAMU’s Police Department said that being in an area with a high crime rate is challenging.
“By being an open campus, we have traffic coming in and out of our campus all the time," Police Chief Terence Calloway said.
FAMU police have responded to the challenges by increasing police visibility on the campus and students have taken notice.
“Campus police, every time you need them, they'll be there trying to help out or do something, trying to help somebody," said Devone While, a FAMU student from Miami. "So I feel like they care more about us than just the general area.”
Along with a visible police presence, FAMU also utilizes security measures, including more than 300 security cameras, blue-light stations and text alerts that inform students when crime is occurring around them.
They also have a service that escorts students to make sure they're not left walking alone at night.
“It eliminates robberies or attempted robberies, attempted whatever it may be. And as the students call it the FAMU Uber," Calloway said.
Students said they feel much safer on campus than off, partly because students feel a personal connection with their campus officers, who meet them at orientation for a lesson on safety tips.
“The police officer, he spoke to us to make sure that we felt safe. He let us know that if we need anything that he'd give us his number and we could call him right away if anything happened," Fort Lauderdale FAMU student Electra Duchemin said.