#1: SPENCER VIEW (2250 Patterson St.)

Spencer View, a university-owned apartment complex located about a mile away from the UO main campus, is no stranger to safety concerns. Complaints about crime sprees from the complex’s residents go back as far as 2006.

It’s also been home to the most crimes in the campus area over the past year: 39.

The majority of the crimes reported at Spencer View are generally in line with the rest of the campus area, just at a much higher volume — namely theft.

Kelly McIver, public information officer for the UOPD, thinks that the high theft rate might stem more from the high concentration of people rather than a naturally crime intensive area.

“Any time you've got a living situation where you've got many units, every one of those units potentially has a vehicle connected to it, if it's parked there,” McIver said. Spencer View’s proximity to a well-trafficked street is likely a contributing factor as well.

Derek Landon, a Lane Community College student who lived next to the complex for two years, said he would often see police cars at the apartments as he came home. He added, however, that “it didn’t seem like it was anything too different from any other complex.”

While high numbers can be troubling at a glance, it’s not always a negative. It could mean that more people are reporting crimes, according to Leah Andrews, the director of marketing and communications for University Housing.

#2 KNIGHT LIBRARY

Crime in the library is all “opportunity-based,” according to McIver.

The Knight Library had the second highest number of reported crimes last year. Theft was the most common, with 10 incidents reported. Theft is common in large buildings with constant traffic, according to the UOPD. The library adds another opportunity for thieves, as students studying often keep to themselves.

Knight Library is open to students 24 hours a day most term days, which makes it a likely target for people looking to steal expensive equipment like laptops or cell phones.

“There's definitely a criminal population that knows if they go in there, they may well be able to find instances where people have left their things on a table while they've gotten up to go bring back a book,” McIver said. “Then they can surreptitiously take stuff without anybody really noticing.”

To combat crime, the university installed lockers for students to keep valuable possessions. After midnight, security officers are stationed at the front of the library, checking student IDs.

Seven incidents of “criminal mischief” were reported at the library, the most of any location on campus. These usually involve people horsing around or otherwise not obeying the library’s noise ordinances. “There are people who'll go in there and they will use the facilities inappropriately or do other things that are inappropriate for people to do in a public space,” McIver said.

An example of weird crime at the library: This summer, a man walked into Knight Library and claimed he had a gun. The man then fled and was arrested for interfering with the police and disorderly conduct.

#3: RIVERFRONT RESEARCH PARK (1295 Franklin Blvd)

The third most crime-intensive area around campus behind Knight Library and Spencer View is the UO Riverfront. The Riverfront, just beyond Franklin Blvd may be the third heaviest area for crime around campus, but the majority of those crimes were of the same nature. Over the past year the Riverfront has seen more warrant arrests than any other area. Criminal trespassing is also a popular crime in the area. According to Kelly, those crimes are usually less about students and more about the homeless population in Eugene. “[Those charges] are usually going to derive from illegal camping on university property,” Kelly said.

“So those are in locations where people are found to be camping illegally on the property or otherwise on university property in those areas… and conducting illegal activity, and upon contact we're finding that they have outstanding warrants.” Often times those warrant arrests are for failure to appear in court, but in some cases it’s for more serious charges such as violating parole, according to Kelly. So while the UO Riverfront may be relatively free of the most common campus crimes such as theft, the data shows it’s one of the more dangerous places for students to be wandering around alone.