Vandals Use Axes on O.C. Schools

Vandals rampaged through two South County schools late Wednesday, causing the worst damage in Capistrano Unified School District history and prompting officials to consider expanding the use of cameras and security guards.

The destruction began about 9:30 p.m. when someone broke into a toolshed at Capistrano Valley High School, stole two axes and other tools, and then took them to tear up Del Obispo Elementary School and Marco Forster Middle School. Damage totaled more than $50,000, authorities said.

Three suspects were arrested by Orange County sheriff’s deputies about midnight, an hour after residents in the neighborhood of Marco Forster reported hearing suspicious noises.

Booked on suspicion of felony vandalism were Daniel J. Kenway, 18, a Dana Hills High School student, Robert DeLuca, 19, a Capistrano Valley High graduate, and a 17-year-old student at Dana Hills. All three were released from jail on their own recognizance.

The worst damage occurred at Marco Forster school, where roof tiles, lockers and water fountains were smashed, and cafeteria windows and light fixtures broken. At adjacent Del Obispo, about 15 handmade planter boxes were ripped from two rows of portable classrooms.

“It was all malicious vandalism, but the planter boxes that were made by students and staff were especially meaningful,” said Dan Crawford, head of facilities for Capistrano Unified.

Experts say arrests in such cases are unusual, but the timing of the crime--during the extended holiday recess--is not.

“Schools are not designed to be defended. They are open places . . . and quite vulnerable. They’re much more a target during holidays,” said Ron Stephens, executive director of the nonprofit National School Safety Center in Westlake Village.

Statewide, 25,430 property crimes at schools were reported to the California Department of Education in 1999-2000, down from 27,090 incidents four years earlier.

Despite the decline, the cost of theft, vandalism and arson is steep: $24 million in 1999-2000, the last year for which statistics are available.

“It’s been said that we spend more on vandalism than we do on textbooks in our schools,” Stephens said.

Districts, most notably the Los Angeles Unified School District, have turned to cameras to deter vandals, especially during holiday breaks when campuses go dark for days or weeks at a time.

“It’s a trend I’ve noticed for many years,” said Lt. Keith Moore with the Los Angeles school district police.

“The vandals know there’s no one at school, so they strike. We deploy extra officers during that time.”

In recent years, L.A. Unified has installed cameras at 10 high schools and Moore said there are plans for “a significant camera presence” on most campuses.

“We’re looking at getting cameras that show real time, where they can be monitored on laptops or desktop computers,” said Moore, who estimated the cost for each system at $250,000.

Already, Moore said, districts in Cleveland; Jackson, Miss.; and Washington, D.C., can monitor campus activity online.

“Technology can be one of a school’s best friends in combating vandalism,” Stephens said. “The cost is huge. But you either pay for vandalism or pay for vandalism protection.”

There were no cameras at Capistrano Valley High, but surveillance equipment is in place at three district high schools: San Clemente, Dana Hills and Junipero Serra.

Crawford said cameras are scheduled go into all secondary schools in the district within a year.

But cameras won’t necessarily deter vandals, said Richard Sams, senior risk services consultant for the Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs, a statewide insurance pool made up of 82 public school districts in California.

Unless there are enough of them--and they are installed properly--cameras won’t capture anything of value, Sams said.

“We’ve seen schools where they’ve installed the Radio Shack camera and a 5-inch monitor,” Sams said. “It gives somebody the impression that something is going on, when there isn’t.”