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Volume XCI Number 50
University of Southern California
Wednesday, November 11, 1981
Crime rate rise attributed to a few individuals
Increases at or below established city trends
By Barry Sloan
Staff Writer
Amidst an upswing in armed street robberies, attempted kidnappings and rapes during the past few weeks, university students, faculty and staff have voiced increased concern over the inflated crime rate in the area.
While many of these individuals contend this surge reflects a higher crime rate around the university than in other parts of Los Angeles,
University Security has attributed the rise to a select group of criminals. Crime, they say, is no worse here than in many other areas of Los Angeles, and is increasing at a rate comparable to or below the trend established over the last two years.
Part 1 offenses — including homicide, rape, assault, burglary, robbery, grand theft and theft — rose 13.9 percent in 1980 from 1979, and
RAPE/ ATTEMPTED 400	RAPE
AGGRAVATED
ASSAULT
ROBBERY
GRAND & PETTY THEFTS*
350
300
250
200
150
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
362
10
16
UNIVERSITY CRIME — The above graph represents the number of crimes committed against persons in the university area this year as compiled from University Security figures. The figures are for January through October, except for grand and petty theft which extends through September. The rape/attempted rape category further breaks down into four actual rapes and 12 attempted rapes. Assaults, robberies and rapes have increased more than 50 percent over last year; thefts are down by about 25 percent. University Security and the Los Angeles Police Department attribute many of the violent street crimes in the area during the last two months to the actions of two suspects.
25.9 percent in 1980 from 1978 in Los Angeles, according to figures released by. the Los Angeles Police Department. In 1978, criminals committed 233,339 Part 1 offenses; in 1979, the figure rose to 257,914 and hit 293,841 in 1980.
Through September of this year, major crime has increased by 2.3 percent over the same period last year, rising from 219,069 offenses to 224,086.
For the areas including and surrounding the university’s main and health sciences campuses, major crimes shot up over 37 percent in 1980 over the previous year, based upon figures compiled by University Security. An additional 591 criminal acts were committed in 1980 to raise the level of Part 1 offenses to 2,186.
The first three quarters of this year, however, showed a smaller rise of 11.4 percent over the same time in 1979. As of September 30, criminals broke the law 1,637 times — up from the 1980 figure of 1,469.
On the main campus, crime has increased at a 3.5-percent rate this year compared to last, as of the end of September. This year’s level registered 967 Part 1 offenses, up 33.
While Sgt. Carole Steele of University Security cautioned that the figures mean little in projecting detailed analyses of crime rates because the numbers can be manipulated to emphasize certain aspects, they nonetheless serve as telling indicators for the overall problem.
Indeed, there is little mistaking a major climb in homicides in Los Angeles from 754 in 1979 to 1,007 the next year. Along the same line, an escalation in robberies from 20,454 in 1979 to 25.637 in 1980 illustrates the severity.
As of Sept. 30, robbery and theft offenses have risen in Los Angeles 5.9 percent and 6.1 percent. respectively, over a similar period last year. However, homicides, rapes and aggravated assaults have tapered off this year.
Around the university, rapes, burglaries, assaults with a deadly weapon, theft from motor
(Continued on page 3)
ATTRITION LINKED TO LACK OF POWER
Campus security wants to gain peace officer status
By Craig Gima
University administrators are evaluating a proposal to seek reserve Los Angeles Police Department officer status for University Security officers.
The proposal to give security officers police officer status has sparked great interest both inside and outside the security force. One of the reasons University Security has such a high attrition rate is the lack of police status, said Steven Ward, chief of University Security.
Security ficers receive the same basic training as LAPD, Ward said, but under the law they only have the powers of security guards. Except for the privilege of carrying weapons, security officers have the same powers of law enforcement that any private citizen has. This has led to some frustration on the part of some officers, a source close to the department said.
Police officer status
would basically give members of University Security two additional powers — the ability to run checks on license plates and suspects, and the ability to arrest a suspect on probable cause.
Ward explained that as a private citizen, security officers must witness a crime or
have a witness to ^ crime before an arrest can be made. Unless there is a witness, security officers must release suspects.
The chief gave an example of an incident that occurred last week when security officers stopped two suspects carrying a locked bicycle. The suspects had bolt cutters in their pockets, and it was later learned that they had been on probation for theft, burglary and possession of stolen property.
“All we were able to do was take the bike away from them, take the bolt cutters, identify them and fill out information cards. We had to let them go. The status as non-police restricted us from making the arrest at that time,” Ward said.
Police officer status also
would have made it possible for security officers to run an immediate check on the background of the suspects.
Giving University Security officers reserve LAPD status is one way security officers can get police status. If that were to happen, an agreement defining the force’s duties and powers would have to be negotiated with LAPD and approved by the Police Commission and the City Council. Another
option would require special legislation passed through the State Legislature.
Security departments at California state universities have police department status because of legislative action. In California, one private institution, Stanford
University, has officers who are reserve Santa Clara Sheriff’s Deputies, through an agreement with the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department. But getting police status is not as easy as it sounds. Ward said.
“A lot of officers have been upset because we haven’t become a police department in the last four years. They don't recognize how complicated it is to make those kinds of changes. They don’t recog-
nize what limitations the university itself has.
“The university can’t decide to change their status and then do it. They can decide to pursue a change, but then it becomes very complicated. The costs and benefits are what we’re emphasizing now.”
Carl Levredge, director of University Security and Parking Operations, agreed. “It’s not the kind of thing where you say, ‘Gee, it’d be great. Let's do it.' And it happens like thj It takes an awful lot of a±. ,sis and evaluation.”
Levredge said there are many questions which have to be resolved before the university commits itself to seeking police status for security. For example, jurisdiction — Where do security’s powers end and LAPD's begin? Also, police status may mean more training, better equipment and more pay for security officers. What will be the cost? Can (Continued on page 9)
‘All we were able to do was take the bike away from them, take the bolt cutters, identify them and fill out information cards. IVe had to let them go. The status as non-police restricted us from making the arrest at that time’