Public Safety officials attributed the 50 percent decrease from last year to more security and four new detectives. Major crimes such as robbery and burglary near campus decreased sharply over a recent three-month stretch when compared to the same period last year, University Police records show. Between November 1996 and January 1997, 24 robberies and five attempts were reported to University Police, a 50 percent drop from the same period ending January 1996, which saw 48 robberies and nine attempts. Division of Public Safety officials attributed the decrease to several factors -- including a beefed-up off-campus security presence and the addition of four University Police detectives -- but cautioned against interpreting these statistics as showing an overall drop in crime. "You don't like to take complete credit or complete blame for crime," Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said, emphasizing that "many, many factors" account for statistics. Robbery statistics have fluctuated significantly throughout the past three years. The 50 percent drop in robberies is not as steep as the decrease two years ago. From November 1993 to January 1994, 54 robberies and five attempted robberies were reported to University Police. But only 23 robberies and four attempts were reported from November 1994 through January 1995. And while stressing the effects of increases in police and security patrols since last fall's crime wave, Rush said crime is often the result of "one-man crime sprees." For example, police arrested a suspect in late January for five robberies in one night -- and individual factors cannot be measured in broad statistics. "A guy with no record turns ugly overnight because he gets involved in crack," Rush said. In addition to the drop in robberies, burglaries declined 36 percent from last year, with 33 incidents last year compared to 21 this year. The number of auto thefts showed little change, with 32 reported to University Police from November 1996 to January 1997 and 33 reported during the same period last year. Thefts fell 13 percent, from 407 in the November through January period last year to 354 this year. Rush cited the creation of the University Police Special Response Team, new Spectaguard security patrols west of 40th Street, doubling the size of the University Police investigative unit, extra overtime among police officers and heightened awareness of crime as possible reasons for the decrease in incidents. Spectaguard personnel began patrolling west of 40th Street in early October, days after Christopher Crawford shot College senior Patrick Leroy as he fled a robbery attempt near 40th and Locust streets. And Security Director Chris Algard explained that his department has implemented an electronic system measuring how frequently security guards cover their patrol areas. He intends to compare the frequency of incidents in specific areas to the number of times security guards walk their beats. "The visibility [of security guards] is going to be noticed more by our community members and that's what's going to make them feel safe," Algard said. Several University Police and Philadelphia Police officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had noticed a considerable drop in crime on and around campus since the University implemented several new safety initiatives. But when told about the drop in crime, one student who lives off campus replied that she still remembers the rash of robberies that led up to Leroy's September shooting. "I'm thinking of everything that happened last semester," Wharton senior Michelle Bornstein said.
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