Campus Crime Rate Drops Again

The number of crimes committed on campus dropped for the third year in a row last year, according to annual crime statistics recently released by the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD).

The decrease in crime was largely a result of a substantial decrease in the number of burglaries, which dropped 18 percent between 2005 and 2006, the most recent year reported. The total number of crimes declined 13 percent, from 528 to 457, over that time period.

In addition, since 2003, the overall crime rate dropped 30 percent, a trend that stands in contrast to most other Ivy league schools—several of which have seen a slight rise in the number of burglaries in recent years, according to those schools’ annual crime reports.

The statistics were released as part of an annual campus crime report mandated by the Clery Act, a federal law named for a Lehigh University undergraduate who was raped and murdered in 1986.

IVY LEAGUE THIEVES

Harvard reports the numbers of burglaries and larcenies according to a slightly different standard than other schools, which leads to seemingly inflated statistics, said HUPD spokesman Steven G. Catalano.

According to Catalano, HUPD reports both burglaries—thefts committed while trespassing—and larcenies—thefts committed in public—even though the Clery act only requires them to report burglaries.

Harvard reported 268 burglaries and 157 larcenies in 2006, compared to 327 burglaries and 180 larcenies in 2005, according to the report.

The number of violent crimes—which include forcible sex offences, robbery, and aggravated assault—on campus and in the campus vicinity rose slightly from 2005 to 2006.

“Our violent crime statistics have remained fairly consistent and our property crime has dramatically decreased over the last several years,” Catalano said.

According to Sociology Department Chair Robert J. Sampson, an expert on community crime, Harvard might be a unique case among American colleges when it comes to crime.

“Harvard is a major tourist destination and every day, thousands of visitors descend upon campus,” said Sampson.

“What that means is that there are many more people at risk for crimes than just those who live here, and this extra population presents more danger for crime.”

Harvard showed the biggest drop in property crimes in 2006 among the Ivy League, although the University of Pensylvania and Princeton also reported a drop in the number of burglaries.

Although the number of thefts has declined significantly in recent years, burglaries and larcenies still constituted 93 percent of all criminal offenses reported on campus in 2006.

‘LOTS TO STEAL’

Sampson says that the high proportion of thefts is to be expected on a residential campus.

“What is different about college campuses is that there are lots of young people, and therefore, lots of things to steal,” Sampson said. “Certain kinds of property crime rates are high because the opportunities are high.”

Cambridge Police Department spokesperson Frank T. Pasquerello said the decline in the number of crimes is not due to a change in policy and that the reason for the change is “difficult to explain,” although he suggested that a difference in the distribution of police officers could be responsible.

“If you saturate an area with ten officers, you’ll naturally have a high arrest rate, whereas if you only have two officers, the number won’t be as high,” Pasquerello said.

—Staff writer Nan Ni can be reached at nni@fas.harvard.edu.