Crime stats decrease

By Chan Tran
Daily Forty-Niner

Annual crime statistics released by University Police show decreasing rates of campus crimes at Cal State Long Beach.

According to the university's Student Right to Know Report, on-campus robberies, sexual assaults, aggravated assaults and burglaries have decreased, while motor vehicle theft and arrests involving drugs, weapon possession and alcohol have risen.

In 1999, a total of 42 reported incidents of motor vehicle burglary were reported on residential and non-residential areas on campus; the highest rate in two years.

"We were suffering through a period of transition," said Capt. Stan Skipworth of University Police. "We were a bit understaffed. CSULB was also going through a progression of enrollment."

The report showed 10 arrests involving alcohol and eight reports of weapon possession. The highest were drug-related arrests with 19 reported incidents.

However, the majority of crimes have declined.

The 38 reported burglaries in 1999 indicated a large decrease from 63 incidents in 1998.

According to Skipworth there were about three burglaries a month and those burglaries involve cases of forced and unforced entries.

In 1999, there were no reported robberies involving dangerous weapons such as firearms, which were down from three incidents in 1998.
Crimes involving aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon reached a two-year low with only four reported incidents.

On average, the campus receives three to four emergency calls in a 24-hour period. The response time for calls is good, according to Skipworth.

"It looks like anything that's in progress we are able to arrive in one minute or less," Skipworth said.

The lower response figures may be attributed to programs such as the Community Service Program night escort service, which offers students escort to the residential halls or parking lots.

"We provided over 43,000 campus escorts in the last year," Skipworth said.

The department will also focus on recruiting a new lieutenant and two police officers this year, he said.