Madison Martin-Sadler
palmettoreport@gmail.com

(Rock Hill, S.C.) — The Winthrop University Police Department is working to implement a new automated system, which will make it easier for students, staff and others to ask for assistance or report a crime.

The department mostly has cases dealing with parking and facility issues in their daily case logs.

Winthrop Chief of Police Charles Yearta says the crime rate on campus has remained steady, despite the 2025-2026 school year having more students than previous years.

However, he says violent crime has declined in two areas.

“The only area that is less, is two areas, which…every year they are the same ones that kind of fluctuate; those include the burglaries and the sexual assaults,” Yearta said.

Mikey Goode, a graphic design major, said she has concerns about how long it takes to get a hold of an officer.

“We had to go through the whole steps…with the automated voice and stuff, because it took…us at least 5 minutes to get to the option, to contact somebody and then it took like 7 minutes to get to a person, and then it took 15 (minutes) to actually get to us,” Goode said.

Goode, who lives in the Nest, said she’s also concerned about off campus crime, especially near Thompson Hall.

Yearta said for emergencies students should call 911. He said the department’s main number is mostly for facilities issues, work orders and parking assistance.

Other students say they mostly feel safe on campus.

“I feel fairly safe on campus and my dorm is pretty safe,” said Gabriella Budrejko, a political science and history major.

“I’m in West Thompson, so that’s the one that is pretty open for most of the night. So, that can be kind of iffy at night, but as long as you get into the dorm where you can only get in with your card, then it’s pretty safe,” said Budrejko.

WUPD is in the process of upgrading their automated system, in order to make it more efficient for students to receive assistance and to make it easier for the officers.

The new system will shorten the length of time that people speak to the automated attendant and use Rock Hill police dispatch for emergencies.

“What we’re going to do is say, ‘okay, these are related things that Winthrop may have to deal with.’ For instance, the work orders, space requests, unlocking stuff (and) parking enforcement, we’re going to house that over in this dispatching center,” Yearta said. “But the other stuff like ‘we need to speak to an officer or we get a collision or there’s a crime in progress.’ We’re actually going to use Rock Hill Police Department for that.”

That new automated system is expected to roll out in fall 2026, but no changes have been made to the phone number.

Additionally, a bill proposed in the S.C. Legislature would change how college police departments report crimes.

Currently, Winthrop has to report all crimes on campus, without distinguishing if those involved — the perpetrator or victims — are affiliated with the school.

The proposed bill, also known as the “Campus Safety Act,” would change that.

“For instance, if John Doe who has no affiliation with the university comes on our campus and is just walking through campus and all of a sudden gets assaulted, we include that. We have to include that stat, as well. So, the federal government doesn’t break down either the victim or the perpetrator by what their status is, if they’re actually a student, a faculty staff member, a visitor or someone just totally unaffiliated with the campus,” Yearta said.

The bill would also require schools to provide mandatory safety training for new students, within their first 30 days on campus. The training would cover things like personal safety, sexual assault prevention and other emergency procedures.

The Campus Safety Act has gained momentum in the legislature after a deadly shooting in February on the campus of South Carolina State University, which killed two teenagers and injured a third person, after it was determined those involved were not students.

It was the second deadly shooting at the school in Orangeburg since October.