'92 saw big crime jump on campus

Crimes against persons increased by nearly 98 percent on campus from 1991 to 1992, according to statistics released Friday by Police Commissioner John Kuprevich. According to the statistics, the number of part one offenses against persons -- murders, rapes, robberies and assaults -- rose from 40 in 1991 to 79 in 1992. The rise follows a decline in such crimes between 1990 and 1991. Arrest rates for crimes against persons also went down from 45 percent to 38 percent between 1991 and 1992. But the total number of reported rapes, attempted rapes and confidential reports -- which could be either rapes of attempted rapes -- decreased from 12 in 1990 to 11 in 1991 to six last year, Kuprevich said. Kuprevich said that despite the change in crimes against persons, he still believes the University is a safe place. "It's unfair to create a sense that we are a community under siege because we're not," he said Friday. "It is a disservice to the University and to everyone in the University community." Of the 79 crimes against persons, 34 were assaults and 45 were robberies, Kuprevich said. And of the 79, 18 involved firearms and seven involved knives. Total crimes against property also went up between 1991 and 1992. In 1991, 1,304 total instances of crime were reported to University Police and in 1992, 1,354 total incidents were logged. Kuprevich said that between 95 and 97 percent of campus crime is theft of unattended property. He said that one of the reasons for the high number of crimes is that the University is an urban campus. "We have one of the most open campus environments," he said. "We see ourselves as part of Philadelphia." Admissions Dean Lee Stetson said he works closely with University Police to discuss these issues of crime and security. "We're working closely together to make sure that the information is disseminated accurately and that we're bringing feedback from prospective students and parents as we feel is appropriate and necessary," Stetson said. Stetson said that while University admissions officers receive limited questions about crime rates, there has been a heightened awareness of security issues across the country from prospective students and parents since the late 1980s. "Students and parents are more concerned about the University's response to the issue of security," he said. "There is a sense that we have been very proactive in that area especially in recent years. Penn is front and center in responding to it [security concerns] early on. We place a high priority on the subject and that's reassuring to most students and parents." Kuprevich also discussed a set of statistics showing a decrease in the number of on-campus rapes and attempted rapes reported from 1990 to 1992. Kuprevich said he thinks that rape education may have paid off in contributing to the decrease since 1990. "The ongoing effort to try to educate people about policy made a significant difference on campus in a sense of generating discussion," he said.