Campus crimes down; hate crimes increase
By Sharon Christensen
Daily Forty-Niner
Cal State Long Beach
campus crime is down, according to University Police records.
The Student Right
to Know Report, an annually issued list of statistics compiled by the University
Police, indicates that for 1998, only the number of hate crimes and burglaries
were up compared to 1997 rates.
The report also lists
homicides, rapes, robberies, assaults and auto thefts, as well as violations
of liquor laws and drug abuse cases.
"This university
is very safe, but like over other city you have to be aware and recognize
that criminals will invade our privacy and steal your belongings,î
said University Police Sgt. Bonnie Myers in an article she wrote for "The
University in Your Future," in the University 100 textbook.
Myers explained that
the increase in hate crimes from two in 1997 to four in 1998 is due mainly
to increases in reporting.
"I think that our
community is feeling more comfortable in reporting," Myers said. "It's
like sexual assault."
The surge in incidents
of burglary may be attributed to new classifications for crimes, said University
Police Sgt. Madonna Gage.
"Reporting techniques
have gotten better," Gage said. ìWe're actually starting to classify
things as burglary.î
"Hate crimes weren't
required for reporting before," Gage added.
As positive as most
of these statistics may sound, the safety of each individual student continues
to depend on education, said Women's Resource Center assistant director
Lynne Coenen.
Once every semester
the Center sponsors a self-defense workshop, to prepare and empower women
and men to deal with a potential attacker.
"The program was
designed to provide information to students, men and women, staff, faculty
and administration," said Coenen, who is also a crisis intervention counselor.
"We work to dispel
the fear that women feel," Coenen added.
The program, which
is one, three-hour class, involves educating students about avoiding dangerous
situations and being aware of their surroundings at all times, she explained.
Coenen suggests students
walk in lighted areas, on well-known paths and if possible with a friend.
It is also important,
she said, to walk with self-assurance and to have your keys out long before
you get to your car.
Coenen emphasized
that one part of the center's mission is to educate not only women in how
to prevent attacks, but also to help men understand the fear that women
have regarding this kind of threat.
The fear being combatted,
Coenen said, has been passed down through generations of women, mothers
telling their daughters to be careful.
"We are taught to
be fearful as women," Coenen said. "The men are astounded at the fact that
women live in this kind of world."
"I'm really committed
to women feeling aware and men understanding," she said.
University Police
also offers a program of self-defense classes involving more complicated
physical moves and four, three-hour classes, Coenen said.
The most common form
of theft on campus is auto-related theft, Gage said.
University Police
encourages students to lock their cars, and to use an alarm or club if
possible.
"The best defense
is a good offense," Gage said. "It makes the thief look at a target as
being hard."
Backpacks are also
targeted for theft because students leave them unattended, Myers said.
"Basically, we just
don't think that crimes happen here and we feel that there is a cocoon
built around the university to keep our property and us safe," Myers wrote
in her article." |
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