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news:
Crime rising across
CSU campuses
By Sharon Christensen
On-line Forty-Niner
Crime is on the
rise across the 23 California State University campuses, according
to a report by the Chancellor's Office sent to all CSU campus
presidents in June.
The 2000 Annual
Report of Crime Statistics, released June 13, lists numbers
of reported crimes compiled by individual campus police departments,
dividing crimes in two categories, Part I and Part II offenses.
Part I offenses
include violent crimes such as homicide, rape, robbery and
aggravated assault as well as burglary, larceny and motor
vehicle theft. Part II offenses include weapons
and liquor law offenses, drug abuse violations, vandalism
and other nonviolent crimes.
From January 2000
to January 2001, the total number of Part I offenses reported
among all CSU campuses rose by 3.8 percent, from 5,143 reports
in 1999 to 5,341 in 2000. The total number of Part II offenses
reported went up by 6 percent in 2000, increasing from 5,104
incidents in 1999 to 5,409 in 2000. CSU officials, however,
dismiss the increase.
"This was
the first year it's risen in a while," said CSU spokeswoman
Colleen Bentley-Adler. "We're still very, very low, considering
many of the larger campuses are like small cities. Long Beach,
San Diego, San Jose have between 25,000 and 30,000 people
on a campus so the amount of crime is actually quite low."
Part I crimes
Among the Part
I crimes, reports of rape increased 36.8 percent, up by seven
incidents in 2000. Robbery and aggravated assault reports
increased by 29.2 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively.
Also among the
Part I crimes reported, burglaries, which occur when a building
is broken into with the intent to steal, increased 30.3 percent.
The number of thefts reported in 2000 decreased by 1 percent,
reflecting a continuing decline since 1996. Motor vehicle
thefts, however, did not follow suit and increased by 11.8
percent.
Part II crimes
In the Part II
category, several areas experienced a decrease in reports
across the CSU system, including weapons offenses (down by
25.6 percent), drunkenness (down by 16.4 percent), disorderly
conduct (showing a decrease of 3.8 percent) and other sex
offenses not included in Part I (down by 32.4 percent).
Reports of drug
abuse and liquor law violations as well as driving under the
influence increased by double-digit percentages in 2000, with
drug abuse offenses up by 34.4 percent, liquor law violations
up by 44.1 percent and driving under the influence showing
a 20.5 percent increase.
Rankings
Cal State Long
Beach is ranked No. 4 in the CSU in Part I offenses, with
increases in four out of the six categories in Part I reporting
a change, including reported rapes, robberies, burglaries
and motor vehicle thefts. No homicides were reported in 2000,
as in 1999, and the number of thefts and aggravated assaults
decreased. In the category of burglaries, CSULB topped the
list of CSU campuses with 97 reported in 2000, a statistic
that reflects the effects of a rising student population,
said University Police Chief Jack Pearson.
"With increased
enrollment there has to be more classes on weekends and evenings,"
Pearson said. "For fire codes, even for one class we
have to unlock the entire building. By the very nature of
how our institute operates we are vulnerable."
CSULB, ranked third
highest in Part II offenses, also experienced increases in
seven of the 10 Part II categories, with decreases in weapons
violations, drunkenness and disorderly conduct. But Pearson
also dismissed this increase as not only a result of enrollment,
but also a sign of the times.
"These increases
aren't alarming," he said. "They reflect a national
pattern. And our campus population has been increasing. The
increases for 2000 aren't out of line for the increases in
population.
"This is not
a rising crime trend that's out of control," he continued.
"I don't see it as that."
Pearson added there
is no plan throughout the CSU system to combat the rising
levels.
"When you're
looking at the entire state of California, you can't make
generalized plans," he said. "It's got to be based
on the local jurisdictions."
Pearson, though,
said he has plans to combat the rise at CSULB.
"Most of our
increase is in property crimes so we'll be trying to educate
potential victims," he said, adding that his department
will concentrate on presentations to students through the
University 100 classes and other means.
"We're expecting
to expand our venues to reach more people through presentations
to students," he said vaguely.
One specific plan
the department has implemented this summer has been to concentrate
more classes in fewer buildings, eliminating the need to unlock
whole buildings for one class.
"Instead of
having one class in five buildings, we can have one building
open for five classes," he said. Although, he admitted,
"not all classes can be taught in all buildings,"
such as science and multimedia classes, the classrooms more
susceptible to burglary because of expensive equipment.
Undaunting task
It seems, though,
that the task facing Pearson may not be too daunting. The
report also shows that the numbers of arrests and citations
versus the number of reported crimes has increased, demonstrating
that the university police departments throughout the CSU
system are improving their ability to follow up and take action
against reported crimes.
As for CSULB, Pearson
attributed the apparent increase in police diligence to four
additional officers on the job and to just plain luck.
"We were a
little bit luckier and our response times were shorter,"
he said. "We had an increase in the number of officers
available to follow up investigations and more officers in
the field.
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