January crime rises 4.6 percent compared to last year

Total on-campus crime in January rose only 4.6 percent from the same time last year.

Despite the recent juvenile assaults, Penn held similar violent crime numbers as January 2010, while an increase in burglaries pushed up the number of crimes against property.

According to Penn Police Chief Mark Dorsey, one of the department’s primary concerns is the prevalence of unattended theft inside of Penn’s Patrol Zone, which extends from 30th Street to 43rd Street and from Baltimore Avenue to Market Street. Many are victim to such theft because they are unaware of their possessions and surroundings.

It is “a crime of opportunity,” he explained, and it is ultimately the owner’s responsibility to be aware of his or her belongings. However, Dorsey said Penn Police have been “talking with people” and “knocking on doors” if they leave their valuables in plain view, whether GPS devices in cars or laptops at Houston Hall.

“We’ve made some inroads [with unattended theft,” Dorsey continued. “We are down 17 percent in theft from buildings,” though he added thieves “are really good at what they do.”

Dorsey attributed the stable numbers of unattended theft to the recent arrests of “five individuals, all with extensive records.”

Dorsey also credited several “adjustments” within the police department. He cited the CCTV arrangements — surveillance cameras placed around campus — as an important support system. At their various locations around Penn, “the cameras do the same sort of things that a policeman would do, except they’re invisible,” he explained.

Though the cameras are not actually invisible — by law, they cannot be hidden — their discreet nature allows them to catch thieves off-guard. Similarly, more advanced tactics such as plain-clothed policemen have also allowed police to catch more thieves.

Dorsey advised students to be particularly aware of one suspect who has possibly snatched five phones from people in the area between Spruce Street and Baltimore Avenue along 40th Street.

Dorsey described the man as “a dark complected male, anywhere from 16- to 19-years-old, wearing a hoodie. At various times, the sweatshirt was described as white, red with a white stripe, grey or beige.”

Beginning on January 24th, the incidents generally occurred between six and eight p.m., he said. A couple of times, the suspect simply grabbed a victim’s phone, while other times he first asked the victim whether he could use it and then ran off with it, Dorsey added.

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