To promote safety at Marquette, the Department of Public Safety should kickstart an online crime log.

With the simple click of a button, an online link to area criminal activity would more efficiently and adequately inform the community.

Marquette’s Safety Resource Guide states Marquette leads in excellence among campus safety departments — however, they’re lacking in uploading daily statistics to the Internet.

DPS provides an annual report of campus-related crimes, issues safety alerts by text and e-mail and assembles a printed crime log, as required by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act.

While these reports are made available for staff, students and parents in the DPS office during business hours, this is not necessarily convenient.

It would be easier for students to quickly check crime statistics online, instead of shuffling through daily reports. Crime doesn’t always happen during business hours.

Public safety departments at both Harvard University and Yale University already employ this techno-savvy measure.

Harvard’s Police Department publishes a daily log — both online and at police headquarters — noting incident type, location, status (open or closed), date and time of the occurrence and report, and a brief description of the incident.

While the electronic version is not deemed the official police log, it keeps curious students informed.

Yale provides a more simplified online account, in addition to a hard copy, which is updated daily. By providing information online, these schools competently raise public safety awareness.

Additionally, the University of Colorado at Boulder exceeds expectations by including an Interactive Campus Crime Map along with an online log, CU Police Blotter.

The map flags five incident categories — assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, sexual offenses and theft — that provide general information once clicked on.

The efforts by CU-Boulder Police Department not only keep the community up-to-date, but also provide a visual overview of crime prevalence in the surrounding area.

DPS keeps Marquette’s campus safe, but it should go one step further and exceed expectations, as other schools have.

Marquette’s DPS’s prints a daily crime log that is distributed to selected groups and made available to the public.

Would it be so difficult to upload this information to the DPS Web site?

With our campus located in urban Milwaukee, it is of utmost importance to maintain public awareness of safety threats and the measures taken against them.

A readily available online account of campus-related crimes, in addition to DPS’ current efforts, could help solve cases more efficiently and possibly aid in the prevention of future criminal activity.

In Marquette’s Safety Resource Guide, the first line reads: “Safety begins with information.”

Let’s share the knowledge and keep up with our fellow universities.