School Rates Poorly for Violent Crime

UC Berkeley reported the seventh-highest number of violent crimes last year out of more than 500 campuses surveyed nationwide in a recently released study.

Twenty-five violent crimes were reported to UC Berkeley police last year, according to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, a study conducted annually by the FBI using crime statistics volunteered by university agencies.

The number is high compared to other schools within the UC system—UC Irvine reported five violent crimes and UC Davis reported four.

The Uniform Crime Reporting Program defines violent crime as incidents involving force or the threat of force.

UC officials said the difference may be due to the different environments surrounding each campus.

“UC Berkeley is in a very urban, metropolitan environment, as opposed to schools like Davis, Irvine and even Riverside,” said UCPD Assistant Chief Mitch Celaya.

Paul Henisey, UCPD chief of police at UC Irvine, said the low crime rate there is linked to the school’s location.

“The city of Irvine is mostly a suburban bedroom community with a low rate of crime,” he said. “The city of Irvine has a high ranking as one of the safest cities in the country.”

UC Berkeley’s more general location in the Bay Area may have also contributed to the difference, Celaya said.

“Berkeley is squeezed between Richmond and Oakland, both of which have significant problems,” he said.

In most of the violent crimes reported to UC Berkeley police, students were victims, while perpetrators were not affiliated with the school. Many perpetrators were not from the city, Celaya said.

“Berkeley has events like concerts and games which draw people from outside of Berkeley and high school students—they can cause problems,” he said.

UC Berkeley students come from various backgrounds, and reports of crime seem to spike at the beginning of the school year when people may still be getting used to Berkeley, he said.

“Criminals prey on individuals not from this area,” he said. “For example, if you’re from the middle of downtown L.A., what you do at night and how you travel is going to be different than if you were from a more rural area.”

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