Chapman University’s Office of Community Relations has been hard at work ensuring that campus-area neighborhoods stay quiet and pleasant. Thanks to a strong partnership with the City, disturbance calls to the Orange Police Department (OPD) involving Chapman students have significantly reduced over the past two years.

Total Disturbance Calls (Academic Year)

  • 2021-22 – 243
  • 2022-23 – 182 (reduction of 25%)
  • 2023-24 – 113 (reduction of 40%)
  • Total Two Year Reduction: 53%

“We have done a lot of work at the start of the year to educate our students on what it means to be a good neighbor in Orange,” said James Gerrard, the university’s community relations manager. Strategies include meeting with athletics teams, Greek Life and student government at the start of the academic year. The university also visited more than 150 houses in the neighborhood to deliver Good Neighbor bags and to conduct preventive liaison visits with OPD.

These face-to-face measures supplement a Good Neighbor mailer that is sent to students moving into the community. In addition, the Community Relations team canvassed the neighborhood at the end of the year and distributed an educational mailer about moving out. This has significantly reduced the issues with students leaving trash behind when they leave. “We’re grateful to have such a great partnership with OPD, I think the results are really speaking for themselves,” said Gerrard.