Students voice their complaints about campus security

Wednesday, October 23, 1996

SAFETY:

Increased CSO patrols are one safety measure recently addedBy
Toni Dimayuga

Daily Bruin Contributor

Lightning struck twice last year for Bernadette Reyes.

The second-year English student explained her car was the target
of theft, once during the beginning of school and again near the
end of Spring quarter.

"I was going down the Sunset Village parking structure in my
car, and I realized that there was something wrong with the lights.
I pulled over … and there were like, two big holes where my
lights used to be," Reyes said.

Luckily for Reyes, the second attempt to steal her headlights
was not successful.

"They left one of them hanging out of its socket," she said.

Reyes has not been the only one to report a crime in on-campus
housing. Other students have also filed reports to campus police
regarding incidents ranging from car break-ins to stolen
property.

In addition, some claimed that the crimes could have been
prevented with adequate security.

"I think it’s ridiculous because supposedly there’s a lot of
safety here … we’re paying all this money to have security, and
our stuff still gets stolen," said Dara Richman, a first-year world
arts and cultures student.

Richman continued to explain that her roommate was a victim of
theft that occurred in the Sunset Village dining hall.

Richman said that her roommate left her backpack in the
designated cubbyholes during lunch. When she returned, it was
missing.

"At first we thought somebody took it by accident, but later on
that day she got calls (from the front desk) saying that they found
some of her books strewn across some lawn near Sunset, so she knew
someone had stolen it," Richman said.

Yet despite students reports, crime in the residence halls has
decreased, said Sgt. John Adams, manager of the Community Service
Officer (CSO) program.

Adams added that measures have been taken to increase safety in
the residence halls.

He mentioned that Parking Services has installed brighter
lighting in the parking lots. There are also more CSO’s on bike
patrol.

In addition, CSO patrol times and the frequencies has increased.
There have been 141 full area checks in the Sunset Village parking
structure this past September, Adams said, averaging out to
averaging out to 4.7 patrols a day.

Increased patrolling does not seem apparent to some students,
however, who claim not to see any, especially in the residence hall
parking structures.

"I’ve heard of a lot of incidents lately, especially in the
Sunset Village parking lot ," said Parastoo Mesri, a fourth-year
political science student.

"Two of my friends had their cars fucked with. I think there’s a
lot of crime around, and something needs to be done. Something like
cameras, perhaps, hello?" she added.

Adams responded, stating the times that students are in the
parking structure may not coincide with the CSO’s patrol schedule.
However, he believes the deployment of CSO’s is adequate.

Adams also pointed out that crime in the Sunset Village parking
lot, reported to be the most frequent on campus, has declined.

Mesri, however, believes that crime has not been reduced and
described an incident that happened recently.

"I just witnessed two guys breaking into some poor person’s car
the other day, and later on a CSO told me that person’s radio had
been stolen," Mesri said.

Adams emphasized that "people need to realize they’re still in
the city of Los Angeles … things happen," and should take
precautions to increase their safety.

Adams mentioned tips such as always locking the door when
leaving the room, keeping identification card access doors closed,
walking in groups whenever possible, and being aware of
surroundings.

But some students believe taking preventative measures is not
enough, they still worry about rumors of random thefts.

"I couldn’t believe this happened to me. I came back here and
told everybody, and they told me, ‘Oh, didn’t you know that happens
all the time?’" Reyes said.

Richman suggested that there should be a better system for
safety in the dining halls.

"Somebody should either be watching (the backpacks) or have some
sort of system like tickets to retrieve the proper bag."