Reported Assaults Drop in '92

Assaults reported to the Harvard Police continued to fall for the fourth year in a row, dropping 37 percent in 1992, according to statistics released yesterday.

Assaults were among the 14 of 21 categories of crime that fell over the past calendar year. Nine of the 14 types of felonies also decreased, including rape, arson and assaults on a police officer.

Among felonies that increased were sexual assaults and armed robberies. Sexual assaults rose from none in 1991 to two in 1992 while armed robberies increased from three to five.

Police Chief Paul E. Johnson said he did not know why these particular trends occurred or if they will continue.

"I am not prepared to extrapolate these figures yet," Johnson said yesterday.

But Johnson did offer an explanation for the increased number of harassing phone calls, which grew from 128 in 1990 to 164 in 1992.

"It is the copy-cat syndrome," Johnson said. "After that guy from Austria started to call people 'Korean Bitch,' other people started to piggyback."

Bicycle thefts also fell last year, from 318 to 261. The number of bicycles reported stolen was still higher than in 1990's count of 225.