UC CRIME REPORTEDLY UP -- POLICE SAY NOT SO

BERKELEY -- An annual report on crime on the nation's campuses released
Monday showed the University of California, Berkeley topping American
universities for drug arrests -- a statistic UC Berkeley officials said is
highly misleading.

The same report, based on 1998 statistics by The Chronicle of Higher
Education, places UC Berkeley No. 2 in weapons-related arrests behind
Michigan State University and fifth in alcohol arrests.

The large majority of those arrests, however, involved non-students and did
not occur on campus, Lt. Adan Tejada of the UC Berkeley police said.
University police officers patrol the Telegraph Avenue neighborhoods south
of campus, including People's Park, Tejada said.

The statistics are required by the collection record law, first passed in
1990 and amended in 1998 by the Clery law in memory of Jeanne Ann Clery,
19, who was assaulted and murdered at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

The law requires universities to report crimes on campus and in surrounding
neighborhoods.

For Cal State Hayward, the area extends to Mission Street, a mile down the
hill from Cal State.

The same report also listed California State University, Hayward as one of
15 universities that had a murder on campus in 1998. But Cal State Hayward
Police Chief Antonio Alvarez disputed that.

"There was no murder on campus in 1998," Alvarez said. "I couldn't tell you
where that murder happened -- probably somewhere removed from campus."

Other Bay Area campuses, including Stanford, California State University,
San Francisco and San Jose State University showed increases in liquor,
drug and weapons violations.

Those statistics followed a nationwide trend that showed alcohol arrests
nationwide on campuses up 24.3 percent in 1998 and violations of drug laws
rising 11.1 percent.

The report shows UC Berkeley reported 280 drug arrests in 1998, up from 179
in 1997. But Tejada pointed out that just 17 arrests involved UC Berkeley
students or staff and the vast majority were made in and around People's Park.

On the national list, Rutgers at New Brunswick, N.J., was second with 138
arrests; the University of North Carolina at Greensboro was third with 132
and the University of Arizona was fourth with 123.

On the alcohol arrest list, the University of Wisconsin at Madison was
first with 792, followed by Michigan State, 655, University of Minnesota,
Twin Cities, 606 and Western Michigan, 405. Berkeley had 382, down from 460.

In the weapons category, Michigan State University was first with 49,
trailed by Berkeley with 34. San Jose State was fifth with 20 arrests.

Cal State Hayward reported 16 weapons arrests, up from four in 1997; 31
alcohol arrests, up from 21; and 30 drug arrests, up from four.

"Most of these did not happen on our campus," Alvarez said.

Stanford reported 73 liquor law violations in 1998, up from 55 in 1997.
There were 27 drug arrests, up from 18, and two weapons arrests. There were
no weapons arrests in 1997.

Both Tejada at UC Berkeley and Alvarez at Cal State Hayward said violent
crimes are dropping and that crime generally is on the ebb.

Capt. Bill Foley of the UC Berkeley police said when parents call, he
explains the statistics, reminds them Berkeley is an urban campus and
outlines the many safety measures for students, including an after-dark
escort service home, and a home-to-campus and campus-to-home after-dark
shuttle.

He added that arrest rates are rising steadily.