Victims Testify in Support of Campus Crime Bill

A woman who was raped at Occidental College and another assaulted at UCLA in separate incidents of campus violence testified Friday in support of a bill that would require colleges and universities in California to report school crime statistics to all prospective students and employees.

The two women testified at a state Senate committee hearing at Cal State Northridge to examine campus violence as well as proposed legislation by state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) aimed at reducing crime on the state’s community college and university campuses.

Torres’ bill, SB 1358, would require the state’s public and private colleges to give annual crime reports and information on campus security measures to all students and school employees.

“Students have to be put on notice and to learn to take precautions,” Torres said.

Torres said he believes that some colleges make it difficult for students and employees to find out the number and type of campus crimes reported to authorities each year. His proposed legislation, which is patterned after similar laws in effect in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, would levy fines of up to $10,000 on schools that failed to comply.

High Cost Predicted

Representatives of the 19-campus California State University system and the state’s community colleges said Friday that Torres’ bill would cost millions of dollars for paper work and other costs without doing much to reduce campus crime.

“We applaud the intent and spirit of the bill, but the costs are extraordinarily high,” said Carol Richards, acting vice chancellor of governmental relations for the state’s 107 two-year community colleges. “Besides, districts are already doing most of what would be required in the bill now.”

Byron Horne, an assistant vice chancellor for the Cal State system, agreed that the legislation may be unnecessary because most campuses already compile crime statistics. “What’s missing is that we don’t put it in the hands of every student,” Horne said.

But it is exactly that kind of information that every incoming freshman and transfer student ought to be given, testified Howard Cleary. His daughter was raped and murdered by another student at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., three years ago. Since then, Cleary and his wife have worked to have legislation similar to Torres’ bill passed in other states.

“Faculty, employees, students and prospective students are all potential victims and right now they do not have full information,” Cleary said. “This bill forces institutions to publish negative information.”

Crime Rate Increased

Nationally, Cleary said, the FBI in 1987 reported 285,000 crimes committed on about 700 college campuses, up 5% from the previous year. Most of those crimes were committed against students by other students, he said.

Among Cal State campuses, violent crimes such as murder and rape reported in 1988 increased 46% over 1987, from 78 incidents to 114, said a report issued by the chancellor’s office.

Gail Abarbanel, of the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center, testified that even those high statistics are misleading because most rapes, for example, are not reported. She said that universities need to make the reporting of rape less traumatic for victims and adopt specific rules for the investigation of student rape allegations.

Torres said after the hearing that he may amend his bill to include a requirement that colleges give all incoming freshman information on ways to prevent assaults.