Cal State Long Beach crime rate among highest of CSUs

By Starr T. Balmer
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer

On-campus crimes at Cal State Long Beach have increased since 2001 with arrests higher than previous years, a crime report showed.

Sexual assault, burglary and vehicle theft are the most committed crimes on campus. Three sexual assaults were reported in 2001, but five were reported in 2003. Burglaries reported actually dropped from 73 in 2001 to 16 in 2003, but CSULB still had the highest number compared to other institutions. Vehicle theft climbed to 59 in 2003, with a low of 54 and 48 in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

The crime report also showed many on-campus arrests occurred due to liquor violations, drug abuse and weapon possession. A total of 131 arrests were reported in 2003 compared to 37 in 2001.

Reported liquor violation arrests changed from 30 to 91, drug abuses from six to 33 and weapon possessions from one to seven in 2001 and 2003.

But other campuses' crime reports showed a much lower crime rate.

California State University, Fullerton reported no sexual assaults, 10 burglaries and 41 vehicle thefts in 2001. But there was an increase of burglaries to 11 and a decrease of vehicle thefts to 10 in 2003.

Three sexual assaults were reported in 2002, but the number dropped to one in the next year at California State University, Los Angeles. Burglaries topped at 38 in 2003 with only 30 and 21 lagging in 2001 and 2002 respectively. Vehicle thefts stooped to 17 in 2003 but reached a high of 69 in 2002.

California State University, Dominguez Hill reported one sexual assault in 2001 and none in 2003. The campus had 26 reported burglaries in 2001 and 10 in 2003. But vehicle thefts increased, with 13 in 2003 and six in 2001.

"I feel safe because I never hear about crimes happening on campus," English major Lateef Jimoh said.

Other students added their views about campus safety.

"I feel safe on campus because crimes aren't really published," Biology and Physiology major Cristina Austria said.

One student was aware of an incident that occurred but was not affected by it.

"I heard about attempted rapes on campus last semester," chemistry and biochemistry major Henry Valle said. "But I feel safe on campus."

Compared to those universities, CSULB reported the most sexual assaults, burglaries and vehicle thefts since 2001. To attempt to keep the crime rate at a low, University Police participate in several events on campus.

The University Police Department enforces alcohol violations and utilizes patrol enforcement to decrease crime on campus, University Police lieutenant for Field Operations Stan T. Skipworth said during an interview with the Online 49er. He said they also participate in University 100 classes to inform students of various crime policies.

Valle also gave a suggestion about keeping the campus safe, "Officers should patrol the campus more on foot."

CSULB also participates in the Night Escort Program, which allows students and staff to call for community service officers (CSO) to escort them to various places across campus. Additionally, the program secures buildings, parking lots, and on-campus housing facilities.

The Women's Resource Center, Counseling and Psychological Services and Staff Personal Services are just a few of several departments that work with the University Police. If students need to report a crime and cannot contact the University Police, they can report it to one of these various departments around campus.