Overall crime down 3 percent from 2005

Though winter break saw a rash of violent crimes, DPS officials point to an overall drop in crime of three percent from 2005 to 2006 as an indication that campus safety is improving.

Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said that a combination of increased resources, more students taking advantage of the University's walking services and diligence from security personnel and community members was responsible for the decrease.

And while the nature of the winter's crimes may seem similar to crimes that took place over winter break in 2005 - including a murder at Philly Diner and robberies of both Metropolitan Bakery and the 36th and Chestnut streets Wawa - Rush said that students shouldn't worry about any sort of growing trend because the victims were unaffiliated with the University.

Rush cited the Dec. 24 murder on the 3900 block of Market Street as an instance of a crime in which Penn students' safety was not compromised.

"This does not appear to be a random act of violence," she said. "This was a targeted assault."

Penn Criminology Professor Lawrence Sherman agreed, saying that DPS's main goal should be to protect those affiliated with the University.

Sherman also said that, while DPS's efforts are mainly "quite properly concerned with the University community," its value extends beyond campus.

"Everything Penn is doing to make Penn a safe place helps the city," he said.

Rush said that the installation of Operation Safe - an initiative spurred by a $5 million pledge President Amy Gutmann made last January to fight crime around campus - has played a large role in improving campus safety, but added that police can't stop all crime in the area.

"We do our best all the time," she said. "But there's always that one lunatic - our job is to make it really hard for him or her to commit crimes."

Sherman praised the use of the Operation Safe money, citing a 22-percent decrease in robberies in the Penn patrol zone in the last year as evidence of the initiative's effectiveness.

He added that students must continue to take advantage of DPS safety services - walking escort use is up 69 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to DPS statistics - in order to keep campus crime rates down.

"The most important message is essentially Smokey the Bear - only you can prevent crimes," he said.

Rush also stressed that, because many Philadelphia residents still visit University City restaurants, movie theaters and stores while students are away on break, Penn Police deployment remains high over breaks.

"Our patrol deployment strategies do not change because students are on vacation," she said.

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