With crime rising across the United States in recent years, many people in the Cheney area have been left wondering if crime has spiked in their own backyard. 

An article by The Atlantic ( https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/america-having-violence-wave-not-crime-wave/620234/ )

suggest that “The murder rate rose by nearly 30 percent, the largest increase on record.” In a transition from 2020-2021. 

In an interview with Deputy Chief Sean O’Laughlin and Detective Robert Schmitter, they voice their opinions about the crime rates within Cheney and discuss their experiences within the community in recent years. 

O’Laughlin opened up the interview by stating that crime “has definitely seen an uptick” within recent years on campus and in the Cheney community. 

 Detective Schmitter agreed with the claims and said that “the dorms have never been this bad before” and went on to state that a mixture of students doing harmful Tik-Tok trends, domestic incidents, and vandalism has risen with students back on campus. 

In hopes of helping the community get better, O’Laughlin stated that “we all have to be self aware” and that it would be helpful if students were to “be vigilant if you see or hear about something going on.”

As another part of O’Laughlin’s advice, he recommended that people reaching out and working together would help to provide a safer environment. 

O’Laughlin then went on to say that the Cheney community has done a great job at working together with law enforcement in order to go about promoting a safe environment. Linking back to instances earlier this year about an assault that happened on EWU’s campus and the help that they got from people across the community. Schmitter stated that “When the community engages it is better for us and everyone on campus.”

As a type of closing sentiment, both of them also encouraged students to take advantage of the safety courses that are offered at the department as they can help students to protect themselves if they ever end up in a dangerous situation. 

All statistics on crime within the Cheney area can be found here: https://inside.ewu.edu/police/crime-data/annual-security-and-fire-safety-report/

This breaks down full reports on statistics within the last 16 years.