A string of crimes in the area has raised the question of whether or not crime is on the rise or if these incidents are strictly coincidental.
Brett Watson, investigation unit commander of the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department, attributes the recent crimes to the time of year.
“This is the busiest time of year, from August to December,” Watson said. “There’s a large influx of students, and football games bring in more people as well. I think (the recent crimes are) simply a coincidence.”
Watson compiled a report of crime comparisons for the past three years in Oktibbeha County from Jan. 1 to Sept. 26 of each of those years. The statistics gathered in the report are composed of incident reports and calls for service.
From 2009 to 2010, there was a 12 percent decrease in total reports for the county. From Jan. 1 until Sept. 26, 2011 the sheriff’s department received 3,792 total reports, down from 3,798 in 2010, or less than a percentage point in decrease, Watson said.
“In the context of an entire year, (crime) is about the same as last year or lower,” he said.
David Lindley, chief of the Starkville Police Department, said he does not know of a specific reason as to why the crimes are occurring. However, he stressed the importance for everyone to understand and be aware that these crimes are happening.
There have been two attacks on University Drive, and both were early morning hours, he said. One arrest has been made in the armed robbery attack, but there is still no arrest in the attempted sexual assault attack.
“We are still encouraging everyone not to walk alone during dark hours, especially on University Drive because we are still looking for a suspect,” Lindley said.
Steve Westbrook, investigator with the Mississippi State University Police Department, said there have not been any violent crimes on campus recently. He said there have, however, been numerous property crimes reported.
Westbrook suggested a few common sense precautions for students, such as avoiding texting or listening to music while walking or jogging on sidewalks at night. The senses of sight and/or hearing are surrendered with these actions and could prove vital to the prevention of an attack.
Students should also be careful with valuable possessions, as property crimes such as theft have been happening, he said.
“Lock your dorm rooms and cars,” Westbrook said. “Leave nothing of value in plain sight.”
Westbrook compared leaving a laptop unattended in the library or in a classroom to leaving 800 $1 bills on the desk or table while stepping outside of a room.
While the recent crimes and the fact they have all happened in such  proximity to each other may only be a coincidence, statistics from Clery Act and FBI reports show crime has been declining in recent years.
The only increase in violent crimes reported on campus within these years was in forcible sex offenses, robbery and burglary, with the forcible sex offenses slightly increasing from zero reports in 2008 to two in 2010. Property crimes had a noticeable increase, with burglary rising from 16 reports in 2008 to 43 in 2010.