Crime rate drops, well below peers'

Crime at Princeton declined in 2005, with fewer reported incidents of liquor law violations, burglary and aggravated assault than in 2004, according to the Department of Public Safety's (DPS) annual Campus Security Report.

Though the figures for on-campus motor vehicle theft and sexual assault rose slightly, crime on campus overall remains far less of a problem at Princeton than at Yale or Harvard. There were 75 criminal offenses on and around campus in the past year, an improvement from 85 in 2004 and 76 in 2003.

The number of incidents of burglary — Princeton's most frequently committed criminal offense — has been consistently dwindling over the past three years, slipping from 67 offenses in 2003 to 42 in 2005.

"Most burglaries on campus are perfectly preventable," DPS Deputy Director Charles Davall said. "We advise students to lock their doors and windows when they leave the room because that's the simplest and most effective way of preventing burglary."

The statistics on liquor law violations reveal a similarly healthy downward trend, with a decrease from 28 to 23 judicial referrals. Yale's figures, in contrast, have been on the rise, with 65 cases of liquor law violations in the last year. No information on judicial referrals at Harvard was available.

At Princeton, 10 people were arrested on public property for illegally possessing alcohol. Nine people were arrested for drug abuse violations in 2005, a drop from 24 in 2004. Illegal weapons arrests decreased from five to three.

Figures for violent crimes — sexual assault, aggravated assault and robbery — have remained fairly constant at the University, and much lower than its two rivals. Six forcible sexual offenses, up three from 2004, were recorded in 2005, of which three occurred in dorms. Yale and Harvard, on the other hand, reported 17 and 29 incidences, respectively.

One robbery took place at Princeton, versus 23 at Yale and 17 at Harvard. Aggravated assault dropped from four incidences in 2004 to one, the same as Yale and 23 fewer than Harvard.

Incidents of motor vehicle theft in and around the Princeton campus climbed from 15 to 20 in the past year, with club cars constituting the majority of vehicles stolen. The club cars were usually found abandoned in another area of campus, though two outside perpetrators were arrested for driving the cars without permission.

The 2005 report also showed a marked increase in cases of arson, with six instances on campus, four of them in dorms, involving fires set in garbage cans near school buildings. A single individual, who has since been arrested, committed four of the 2005 crimes. No arson was reported in 2004.

"Most of our efforts are centered around crime prevention," Davall said. To this end, DPS patrols campus residential areas during breaks, when "the majority of burglaries occur." Security officers walk through the halls to check the doors and windows of dorms and lock the ones that have been left open. Bicycle theft, Davall said, remains the "single biggest security problem we have."

Princeton's campus lies in a suburban town of 30,000 with a median family income of over $100,000 that was named the 15th best place to live in the United States by CNN and Money Magazine in 2005. Yale's campus is located in New Haven which is, at 125,000, the second-largest city in Connecticut. It has a median family income of just $35,000. Harvard's Cambridge, Mass. home is a city of over 100,000 with a median family income of approximately $50,000.