SANTA ANA : District Sees Drop in Campus Crime

Rancho Santiago Community College District officials said that recent security improvements, including better lighting and the addition of parking lot observation towers, have caused a significant decrease in the number of car thefts and burglaries districtwide.

Responding in March, 1992, to an urgent call for increased campus safety, the Board of Trustees approved spending $350,000 on a wide range of security measures after a surge in crime throughout the district.

A report to the board at the time showed a 71% increase in burglaries of buildings for the six-month period ending Dec. 31, 1991, compared to a similar period in 1990. Vehicle thefts had increased 31%.

J.R. Johnson, director of security and safety, said this week that thefts from cars have dropped from an average of 13 a month in October and November to four a month since December, when the parking lot platforms were installed at the Santa Ana campus.

The number of vehicle thefts also dropped, Johnson said. “The trend is as we hoped and predicted,” he said.

The observation towers, which are raised about five feet off the ground, are staffed by students equipped with bright-orange security jackets, two-way radios and binoculars.

Other improvements include a swinging gate that prevents cars from entering the Santa Ana campus parking lots after hours, beefed-up, 24-hour patrols, and additional training for safety officers. The district will also install emergency phones on the Santa Ana and Orange campuses within the next few months.

Despite the improvements, however, Johnson said the district has had mixed success in fighting graffiti, which have been growing worse. Still, the graffiti are removed as quickly as they are created, he said.