<p>I'm hoping this is appropriate to post. I, as a parent, found out from a friend last night that there had been two attacks near off-campus housing. According to my daughter, she had heard about it from the campus alert but hadn't mentioned it to me. I thought we were on the distribution list for all of the alerts, but I guess that parents are on a different subset. Needless to say, this brings back all of my prior ideas about the lack of safety at SC, especially since students live off-campus after freshman year. Comments?</p>
<p>Yes, there were two disturbing attacks over the weekend. You didn't get an alert because the Trojans Alert system is meant to be used for immediately life-threatening emergencies: shootings on campus, bomb threats, chemical spills etc. If the danger has passed away from immediate intensity, then no alert will be sent. Instead, every student at USC was sent an email about what happened, with safety advise and information on changes, which I will paste below.</p>
<p>What should parents do about this? Remind there students to be safe at night. The two girls were attacked walking alone at night, one at 1:30am, the other at 3am. There is no reason that any student should be walking alone at that time- call DPS and have them give you a ride, or use campus cruiser. Not that I blame the girls- this is an absolutely horrible event. I just want to prevent it from happening again.</p>
<p>Here is the letter:</p>
<p>To: Members of the USC Community</p>
<p>From: Michael Jackson, Vice President, Student Affairs</p>
<p>Re: Safety of Students</p>
<p>I regret to inform you that, in the past few days, we have had the disturbing occurrence of two separate sexual assaults on USC students in the University Park Area.</p>
<p>The first incident took place at about 1:30 a.m. on Friday, September 5 near 30th Street and McClintock, when a student walking alone was assaulted by an unknown assailant.</p>
<p>The second incident took place at the Century Apartments at about 3 a.m. on Saturday, September 6 after a student walking alone was deceived into letting three strangers accompany that person home.</p>
<p>Our offices are currently working with health officials and counselors to offer assistance to the victims. In addition, both crimes are being aggressively investigated by Los Angeles Police Department and the USC Department of Public Safety.</p>
<p>In response to these incidents, DPS has stationed an additional unit in the North University Park off- campus area and the area around the "Row". This unit will have its amber lights and emergency lights operating to create a higher visibility from 12 to 4 a.m. Additionally, LAPD motor units will be in the USC area in greater numbers through Saturday.</p>
<p>Our entire community joins together in these circumstances to strongly condemn sexual crimes, and to offer our deepest sympathies and full support to the victims.</p>
<p>As this is just the beginning of a new academic year, I want to take this opportunity to reiterate that we do not want anyone to be a victim of crime - far less as one of our own students. Please join me in renewed vigilance, and in taking steps to protect your safety and that of your fellow students.</p>
<p>Please avail yourselves of the basic precautions: never walk alone after dark, use the Campus Cruiser system, ask for friends to accompany you, never wear earphones while walking alone - and look out for the safety of all.</p>
<p>If you wish to discuss how these incidents affect you personally, please reach out to a Resident Assistant, Student Counseling, or any member of the Student Affairs Office.</p>
<p>My friends and I discussed this, and came to the conclusion that, as unfortunate as these incidents are, both were avoidable. I certainly don't blame the girls, but I don't think it indicates that USC is any less safe than any other school in any other major city. It's always a risk to walk alone through a city at 3 in the morning, that's not specific to USC or to LA. In any case, I think that USC's response is appropriate, and hopefully this terrible incident will prompt people to take more precautions when they go out at night.</p>
<p>There was a swarm of local LA media coverage yesterday, but I guess parents living outside of the Southland wouldn't have heard it at all.</p>
<p>Some coverage from campus outlets:</p>
<p>After</a> assaults, campus safety takes center stage - News</p>
<p>Sexual</a> assaults rile campus; students wait for answers - News</p>
<p>The first event:
"The complainant reported that an unknown male approached her and
sexually assaulted her. Shortly after the assault began, a male
bystander yelled at the suspect, after which he fled the scene."</p>
<p>I don't know if she was actually raped or not from this (shortly after the assault? Hopefully she wasn't...), but the guy was a life saver.</p>
<p>I was shocked by this news when it came because never in my 2 years at USC we had sexual assaults happen. We had many robberies and such but... yeah.</p>
<p>Perhaps the two attackers are the same individuals?</p>
<p>"Hispanic or Black Male,
, shaved head, 20 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, thin build, wearing a
maroon shirt, blue jeans."</p>
<p>2nd one "Hispanic"</p>
<p>I sorta think this area's getting worse because the other day some guy was trying to steal out my basket (around @ 12:00 am) while I was biking back home...;; I first thought he had a gun in his hand sorta panicked (dunno if he really did but)</p>
<p>The thing is, campus cruiser sucks. And DPS probably would tell you to use campus cruiser. Campus cruiser takes about good 40min-1 hour to come. and sometimes I guess you wouldn't have your friends with you to walk back home with :/ if they are all drunk or whatever.</p>
<p>I do think the alert wrote it little bit like it was her fault because I have a friend with a similar experience. She met a weird guy, went to her house to get away from him, but he forced himself in. I'm thinking this girls problem was the same thing, she met some weird guys, thought they were creepy, rushed to home, and they forced their way in after her.... The alert sounds like she invited along or something to her house.... </p>
<p>I guess at that point she should have called DPS emergencies but they couldn't have done anything because before the actual incident they didn't do anything. I dont really honestly know what she could've done. Call her guy friends? (but I'm sure the 3 guys that were 'accompanying' her would've probably taken her cellphone away from her too.</p>
<p>Hopefully this area will get safer after this event a little.</p>
<p>My daughter was surprised to arrive home at C. Gardens the other morning to find a family friend who is a local reporter standing outside the C.G. gate! He was there to cover this story. From what she learned, these unfortunate incidents could have happened in any city, anywhere. </p>
<p>The bottom line is students need to use their "street smarts." Walking or cycling alone after midnight in any city is simply not a good idea. It is critical that students pre-plan how they will safely get home if they are going to be out late at night, whether they have an evening class, are at the Row, or anywhere else. Unfortunately many young people think it "won't happen to them," but perhaps one piece of good to come out of this will be it serving as a wakeup call. </p>
<p>It sounds like USC's response has been solid. Having the extra patrol with the lights flashing in the area in the "wee hours" is a good extra precaution.</p>
<p>All of us in the Trojan Family sincerely regret the two recent crimes which occurred near the SC campus. However, I will post the story again of a family member in Athens, GA who was attacked and severely beaten directly across the street from the Univ. of Georgia campus on a well lighted street in the evening. He was returning to his room because he was in shorts and a shirt and discovered he had forgotten his wallet. Around the corner came a group of 9 gang members who threw him to the cement sidewalk and severely beat him. They were angry because he was not carrying any money. Fortunately, a car drove by and they ran, leaving this young man almost unconscious from the blows. It took him weeks to recover.
In small Auburn, AL a freshman woman was abducted and killed this year. Another fine student in North Carolina was also murdered. Other crimes against students have been reported across the country, even at small town campuses. These are all senseless tragedies, but it is a mistake to think SC is the only campus where students can be in danger late at night or walking alone.
Our hope is these men are found, stand trial and receive punishment for their heinous crimes.</p>
<p>Here is the official DPS report that all the students received:</p>
<p>University of Southern California
PUBLIC SAFETY CRIME ALERT</p>
<p>2008-36</p>
<p>The University of Southern California Department of Public Safety is
providing this notice of a criminal incident that occurred in our
community in order to provide information that may help in avoiding a
similar crime or provide information to solve this crime. This notice
is also intended to meet the requirements of the Timely Notice
provisions of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security
Policy and Campus Crime Statistic Act of 1998.</p>
<p>Sexual Assault</p>
<p>DATE & TIME OF OCCURRENCE: September 6th, 2008 at about 3:00 AM</p>
<p>LOCATION: 3000 Block South Orchard</p>
<p>REPORTED OFFENSE: LAPD informed DPS today of a reported sexual assault
that occurred on September 6th at 3 AM. The Complainant reported being
approached by three suspects while walking home alone from a party. One
of the suspects, under the guise of escorting the complainant for
safety, later sexually assaulted the complainant at the complainants
home. The other two suspects are alleged to have driven the
complainants vehicle during the time of the assault. The vehicle was
later located away from the complainants home. The alleged assailant
then fled the location on foot in an unknown direction.</p>
<p>SUSPECT DESCRIPTION (provided by complainant):</p>
<p>3 male Hispanics. No further specific details provided by the
complainant.</p>
<p>SUSPECT VEHICLE: No Vehicle seen.</p>
<hr>
<p>The short version of this:</p>
<p>"Hey there little girl, want some candy? I have some candy in my white van"
"Okay!"</p>
<p>A little harsh, but if this girl seriously did not know the people that she was with, then she should have went on her way and refused the three men. Our parents tell us not to talk to strangers for a reason.</p>
<p>Not blaming her, but the situation could have been avoided.</p>
<p>Edit: An earlier poster said that the report made it seem like it was the girl's fault. But honestly, some of the girls on campus (that I've seen, but I cannot say all of course) randomly walk the streets (I live in Cardinal Gardens and lots of girls walk in the alleyway on Orchard drunk and loud) causing attention to themselves. </p>
<p>Campus Cruiser may suck, but it's better to get in the wait list and get a ride from the Row to back home than walk home alone and drunk.</p>
<p>I have a feeling she was seriously drunk and wasn't able to make those kind of decisions (about walking alone, who she's with etc)....</p>
<p>The thing is, saying it was the girl's fault is pretty much stabbing the victim twice (whether it was or wasn't). We need to consider the fact this is a real person who lives pretty much right across the street from us. She must know whether it was her fault (partially or not) so let us just be careful from now on and not talk about what part of the rape she was responsible for. It's just cruel...</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>I respectfully disagree...we all have enormous sympathy for the victim, who went through something no one should <em>ever</em> experience, but <em>because</em> she could have been our neighbor, our daughter, we need to be careful not to let our sympathy silence discussion and analysis of what happened and how it could be avoided in future.</p>
<p>Crime is only caused by criminals, but there are commonsense ways to help avoid getting into trouble, and this should be Topic A on the USC campus right now, along with discussion of increased security. Everyone should be working together to make USC safer, and that includes students.</p>
<p>For example, one thing that's become clear from the last couple weeks is that some students need to lose their sense of entitlement to walk the streets of University Park while drunk at 3:00 a.m., or more people may well be hurt. Bad things are more likely to happen in the middle of the night, and when you add to that the stark fact that students who are smashed lack the capacity to make good decisions, it's a recipe for disaster. This needs to be acknowledged and discussed all over campus, not swept under the rug out of respect for the victims. These ideas may seem obvious to many of us, but I know from things my daughter has observed that some students still desperately need a wakeup call about taking personal responsibility, and discussing what has happened in a public way may help drive home the fact that yes, it <em>can</em> happen to you.</p>
<p>I write the above not to be unkind, but as a mom with a daughter in Cardinal Gardens who has been very concerned about the recent crimes and student safety. I don't ever want another student or another family to experience the kinds of crimes that have happened over the past weeks in University Park.</p>
<p>I'm with you, uyulove. STOP blaming the victims of these crimes. Exactly what time of day is it acceptable for these young people to be out? Do we draw the line at 12:00 midnight? What about 6:00PM? Would they get more sympathy if these crimes happened at 12:00 noon? Some college students drink. Since when is it EVER the victim's fault? Some say, 3:00AM, they should know better. 10:00PM?, is that ok? Rapes and other crimes can happen anytime, with or without alcohol involvement. </p>
<p>This is precisely why many women do not report rapes. They know that they will be blamed. She was drunk, she should not have been in that area, she should not have been alone, she shouldn't have worn those clothes, she asked for it . . . </p>
<p>Murder is now possible if a student is out late? I just have outrage for the thugs that committed these horrible crimes, and anguish for the innocent victims and their families. I hope the police will find the criminals. </p>
<p>Next time the fresh faced young high school senior asks if USC is in a dangerous area, I hope that those answering will at least be honest. Yeah, it can be very dangerous off campus. Truth. (This is what The Cleary laws were all about. Families need to know the types of crimes that happen at colleges.)</p>
<p>Let's remember the last horrible incident involved a USC male. It is just not safe after dark for all students in the area off campus. All students need to take precautions to protect themselves.</p>
<p>It is not a victim's fault she/he was attacked. She didn't ask for an assault! But...unfortunatly, the two women who were attacked did put themselves in harm's way despite repeated warnings about not walking alone after dark. All cities hold danger for women alone. Wasn't it their responsibility to be careful?<br>
It is not anyone's intention to make the victim of crime feel worse, but this forum is open to all students and parents who are also trying to learn how to prevent this sort of crime from happening to them. We shouldn't stifle such a conversation. </p>
<p>For those who have kids going off to college anywhere (I have a friend whose daughter was hounded by a stalker in tiny Grinnell, Iowa, and another whose tall son was mugged on the campus of UPenn) the importance of taking responsibility for being out in the big, sometimes bad world is only common sense. </p>
<p>I agree that schools need to maintain safer streets, and easy and frequent shuttles from off-campus housing to campus so kids will use safe transportation late at night. USC needs to do more to keep students safe. But I also think we must look carefully at the heavy drinking involved in the three incidents (as have been reported) and consider the part it likely played in each student taking a dangerous risk.</p>
<p>More security cameras and more lights at every corner near USC off campus housing would help deter these crimes.</p>
<p>"It is not anyone's intention to make the victim of crime feel worse, but this forum is open to all students and parents who are also trying to learn how to prevent this sort of crime from happening to them. We shouldn't stifle such a conversation."</p>
<p>My point exactly. As I wrote above, "Crime is only caused by criminals, but there are commonsense ways to help avoid getting into trouble, and this should be Topic A on the USC campus right now." I hope that my words have not been misinterpreted. We all -- students, parents, prospective students, etc. -- should be able to have frank discussions about all angles of these important issues. </p>
<p>I'm a bit perplexed by some of the points above. Is it being suggested, for example, that students should <em>not</em> spend more time considering what time they are on the streets, who they're with, and whether or not they're going to be impaired when they're out late, because if something happens, it's not their fault? I'd like to think it's possible to acquire wisdom and discuss ways to help students have future plans of action, based on lessons learned from past experience, without that equating with "blame the victim." </p>
<p>The above is, of course, just one aspect for discussion. As I also mentioned in my post, increasing security is another topic that needs to be addressed. I like Columbia Student's suggestion of more lights and cameras.</p>
<p>I wonder how students feel living off campus given the security situation. Although my son is a freshman, I wonder what is going to happen when there is no longer housing available on campus. How safe is it to live off campus? Also, I wonder if the drinking problems are coming from any parties at the fraternities or is alcohol a common problem in the student apartments as well?
I think the drinking issue should be addressed with all of the fraternities so that they make sure that no one leaves a fraternity party drunk and/or unescorted to go home late at night.</p>
<p>The whole issue of living off campus after freshman year is a big concern for me. I would hope that the ideas of more cameras/lights/etc. would be implemented. Maybe there are other creative, effective ideas out there--I think we would welcome them!</p>
<p>From another USC forum website, I read that there are always Campus Cruizer to pick up students from the library. In fact, one person that was working for Campus Cruiser in the 80s wrote that picking up students from the library is a common thing(my daughter often goes to the libary with her friends to study till late).
On the same token, there should be a regular shuttle car/bus route, operated by 15-30 minutes interval from the North and South place to these off campus housing, less frequent after a certain hour. This bus route will pass through all the major stops like the library, the rows, the apartment, etc.. This would make student more likely to wait for the shuttle vs walk back to the apartment by themselves. When I was in college, my undergraduate had offer similar shuttle to the parking lot.</p>
<p>All of the ideas are great-shuttle buses, good lights, etc. However, I am concerned about the fact that it sounded like their was alcohol involved which impairs using good judgement. This is where good neighbor policy should be in effect where people in the fraternities and off campus housing parties should watch out for their friends, visitors who are leaving drunk and make sure that they are escorted safely home without being alone in the dark, in a drunk state which creates a potentially unsafe situation. I think the drinking issue should be addressed.</p>
<p>I just got back fom the Campus Security Q&A at Bovard. I only attended for about an hour, but one thing they kept mentioning was how "unusual" the three incidents were. Someone help me clarify this, but the panel said that most rapes/sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knows, not complete strangers. Similarly, the last homicide of a student committed near campus was 15 years ago.</p>
<p>They did report that someone had been arrested today and they were going to book him, but they won't release details till later. Apparently he is not from this area but happened to be staying at the apartment complex. (I'm not sure if he is the stabber or is associated with him.)</p>
<p>Regarding Campus Cruiser, they're proposing hiring full-time staff and money incentives for students to refer friends as extra drivers, as well as some agreement with Yellow Co-op.</p>
<p>As mdcissp said, the good neighbor policy is a vital part. The head of DPS said that guns and badges can't prevent every crime, and students should help fellow students whenever possible.</p>