University Times

Contrary to the way it may seem from the endless reports of shootings and assaults that appear nightly on the 6 o'clock news, violent and serious crimes reported to both Pittsburgh and Pitt police plummeted in 1995.

According to statistics released by the Pittsburgh Public Safety Department, the city saw a 17.5 percent drop in serious crime last year, while University police reported a whopping 24 percent decline in Category 1, or the most serious crimes.

Category 1 crimes include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, larceny, arson and auto theft.

The drop makes the city the safest it has been in 30 years. According to the city report, the number of violent and serious crimes in Pittsburgh fell from 26,623 in 1994 to 21,963 in 1995. The last time the total was below 22,000 was in 1966, when 21,733 violent or serious crimes were reported.

At Pitt, along with a 24 percent decrease in Category 1 crimes, criminal activity as a whole fell by 9 percent from 1994 to 1995, according to a report released by Pitt Public Safety Director Rick Boyd.

The clearance, or solved, rate for crimes on campus also increased from 50 percent in 1994 to 54 percent last year. According to the report, a clearance rate of 40 percent or higher is considered by law enforcement groups to be outstanding.

At the same time, however, campus police experienced a 20 percent increase in calls from 1994 to 1995. The report shows that Pitt police answered 37,791 calls in 1995, compared to 30,240 calls in 1994. The calls included everything from Category 1 crimes to simple requests for information.

Boyd said in the report that: "Department members are delighted that faculty, staff and students are becoming more aware of their services and more comfortable in calling on University police for assistance." Public Safety attributes the increased awareness and increased calls to efforts to educate members of the campus community about services offered by Pitt police through safety seminars, the distribution of information brochures, presentations conducted by police at student orientations and the addition of bike patrols.

The University's policy of zero tolerance for drug and alcohol law violations is another reason that calls to the campus police increased from 1994 to 1995, Boyd said.

"A cooperative effort between the University police department and the Pennsylvania State Police targets underage drinking at parties and in bars," Boyd reported. "Statistics from across the country show that when enforcement of liquor laws goes up, the incidents of all types of assaults goes down." Monthly crime statistics for the University are available in the Public Safety section of PittInfo under Pittsburgh Campus or by typing www.pitt.edu/HOME/Org/Public Safety.

Last year's 17.9 percent drop in serious crime puts Pittsburgh well ahead of other comparable cities. According to the latest FBI statistics, cities with populations of 250,000 – 500,000 saw a decrease of 2.1 percent in violent crime from 1993 to 1994, and an increase of 0.9 percent in serious property crimes during the period.

In releasing the statistics, acting city Police Chief Bill Bochter attributed the decline to several reasons, including a drop in gang activity, the success of the city's Community Oriented Police program, the hiring of 500 new police officers to replace those who took early retirement and increased cooperation with other police departments.

–Mike Sajna