 
UC
Berkeley sees big drop in 1999 in the number of violent crimes
on campus
20
Apr 2000
By
Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations
Berkeley
- In 1999, violent crime on University of California, Berkeley
property dropped 26 percent over the previous year, and the
number of violent crimes was the lowest of any year in the 1990s.
In
its annual report on crime statistics, UC Berkeley police note
that 23 violent crimes - the types recorded on the Federal Bureau
of Investigation Index - were reported in 1999. That compares
to 31 the previous year. The 1999 number is 41 percent lower
than the annual average for the previous nine years.
"It's
been going down for the last few years, and that's a nice trend,"
said UC Berkeley Police Department Capt. Patrick Carroll.
The
pattern, he said, is one seen all across the country.
On
the UC Berkeley campus, with its 40,000 students, faculty and
staff, UC police serve an average daily population of more than
55,000 people. In addition, UC police patrol off-campus properties
such as the dormitories, University Village Apartments in Albany,
and the Richmond Field Station.
Carroll
credits the lower crime rate, in part, to continuing efforts
by campus police to teach people how to guard against crime
and to promptly report offenses. The campus also has improved
lighting in various areas of the campus. Police also maintain
some joint patrols and other law enforcement programs with Berkeley
city police.
There
were no homicides on campus last year, and robberies declined
from 23 in 1998 to 15 in 1999.
There
was one rape reported in 1999, Carroll said, the same as the
year before. In each case, the suspect was an acquaintance or
friend. The 1999 case occurred off campus at People's Park and
resulted in arrest.
Of
the 15 arrested for the 23 crimes in 1999, none was affiliated
with UC Berkeley, Carroll said.
Property
crimes numbered 1,102 in 1999, up 88 from the year before. Almost
half of the increase was due to a 44 percent increase in the
number of bicycle thefts. In the same period, motor vehicle
theft decreased 37 percent.
There
was a three percent increase from 1998 to 1999 in the number
of narcotics-related crime arrests. And while these arrests
went up from 271 to 281, arrests for felony narcotics offenses
dropped from 76 in 1998 to 40 in 1999, Carroll said.
Cases
of public drunkenness increased slightly from 118 in 1998 to
135 last year, with all alcohol-related cases up to 185 compared
to 163 in 1998.
FBI
Index for crimes includes homicide or manslaughter, rape and
attempted rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Altogether,
police responded to 21,000 calls for help in 1999, compared
to 19,500 calls the year before.
A 30-year veteran of the campus police department, Carroll said
campus crime has been declining steadily since the late 1980s.
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