The Cavalier daily :: Friday, May 11, 1973 :: University of Virginia Library

Hundreds of crimes are
committed on the Grounds
each year. These crimes include
not only those aggravating
parking violations but also
assault, theft and armed
robbery.

Each year the Security
Department prepares a report
to the president which contains
statistics on crimes committed
on the Grounds. The annual
report, which is based on the
calender year rather than the
academic session, concerns
more than just students. Many
of the crimes pertain to
hospital activities and some
involve non-University people
working on the Grounds.

"Many times missing person
calls come from the hospital,"
said Director of Security W. W.
Bromwell. "Some one may
have walked out of the Davis
Ward. One indecent exposure
case involved a contractor
working on the Grounds," he
added.

Although patterns of crime
are almost impossible to
establish one can identify
certain limited trends from the
annual statistics. A
preponderance of soliciting
seems to occur in married
student housing. It has also
been found that 95% of all
clothing stolen is taken from
the second floor of Newcomb
Hall; and a majority of the
bomb threats involve Cabell
Hall, which seems to suggest
that students are the culprits.

Some trends may also be
detected from the increases in
certain crimes. Assault which
includes both rape and assault
has quadrupled in the last five
years, Similarly, thefts of
personal property and
automobiles have tripled.

Interestingly, parking
citations fell in 1972 by almost
10,000 citations from the
previous year. Mr. Bromwell
attributes this phenomenon to
the fact that parking meters
were installed during the year
and parking was more strictly
defined. "Students now know
where they can and cannot
park," Mr. Bromwell said.

How effective is Security in
solving these crimes? The
IACP Report issued earlier this
year stated that Security is
"generally ineffective in solving
the crimes reported to it."

The report cites several
examples. In 1971 only one
arrest was made for the assault
although 40 were reported; and
only 7 arrests were made for
larceny out of 761 cases
reported. No arrests were made
for auto theft.

On the other hand, Security
deserves some recognition for
its success in recovering stolen
property. The Dept. recovered
all autos stolen in 1972 and
well over half of all other
items stolen.

Unfortunately comparable
statistics are unavailable from
city records due to the fact
that separate records are not
kept for crimes involving
University students and
personnel.

However, Chief John DeK.
Bowen commented that
students were mainly involved
in traffic violations. "Even
then they are not the
majority," he added. "Students
aren't generally the ones who
perpetrate the crimes, though
they are often the victims."

The adjacent chart indicates
some of the trends in crime
reported to Security during
1972.