BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The doorbell rings. You peer outside your window to see if it’s anyone you know. No. It’s a well-dressed young man holding papers….It could be a door-to-door salesman or someone handing out pamphlets. You may choose not to answer the door, but many residents on the west side of Bloomington did, and met Illinois Wesleyan University student, and now alumnus Ryan Lambert ’10.
Lambert was conducting a crime survey as part of his Spring 2010 internship with the IWU Action Research Center (ARC), which coordinates research projects undertaken by IWU students, faculty and staff in partnership with groups in the larger Central Illinois community. A political science and history double major while at IWU, Lambert walked door-to-door, asking over 200 west side residents nine questions regarding crime in their neighborhood.
“The survey focused on why the residents in this neighborhood have a higher rate of fear and anxiety regarding crime and why they have a higher rate of victimization,” said Lambert, who noted that the parameters of the survey were south of Empire St., west of Roosevelt St., north of Oakland St. and east of the railroad tracks in Bloomington.
Although Lambert had no previous knowledge or attachment to the project, he quickly became devoted to his work. “Initially, you hear that the neighborhood isn’t the best and you shouldn’t venture there at night,” said Lambert. “But after getting to see the neighborhood, it’s really just another neighborhood. It opened my eyes to a different part of Bloomington that I didn’t appreciate before.”
Lambert worked in conjunction with ARC Coordinator Deborah Halperin, IWU librarian and Bloomington alderwoman Karen Schmidt, Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science James Simeone, Professor of Political Science Tari Renner, the Bloomington Police Department (BPD) and fellow student Drew Wolschlag ’11 to compile the survey questions. Questions included rating on a scale of 1 to 10 how safe one feels in their neighborhood, whether the respondent has ever witnessed a crime, the type of crime and what crimes are most frequent in their neighborhood.