I have read many recent crime alerts about armed robberies of students both on and off campus. Also, some gang rapes in the past year, including in daylight. Will the police be able to get this under control, or should we take it off the list?
It has the crime you’d expect to see in a community that size.
I compared the crime report website for ucsb with the ucla crime report website and ucsb has numerous armed robberies this year, including on campus. Ucla has none. Everything else about the school seems great. But the crime is scary.
No crime on or around the the UCLA campus is hard to believe. The Daily Bruin begs to differ.
http://dailybruin.com/category/news/crime/
It looks like there was a shooting near campus just 5 days ago, a purse snatching last week, some sort of knife involved conflict on campus a few days before - and school is out of session.
The world is a big and scary place. Unfortunately, students (at all schools) make easy targets. They tend to be trusting, frequently have expensive bike, laptops, etc and are often distracted, out late, walk alone and are sometimes intoxicated. That lure and an underlying demand for drugs, brings criminals on and near campus. This is certainly true at UCSB but, also at virtually any other school with thousands of students living near campus.
If you want a significantly safer environment than Santa Barbara, you’ll need to look at smaller and more isolated campuses like Pepperdine,
None of those UCLA incidents were related to target crimes on students/campus. The shooting was at 1:50 am after a bar fight in Westwood village. The knife incident started as a road rage incident that spilled over from the nearby 405 highway. The purse snatching occurred miles away from the campus near off site graduate housing. None are good, but none were crimes on students/campus. I realize that crime can and does happen everywhere. I am particularly concerned, though with students as targets at UCSB and the surrounding town. I read about numerous recent gang rapes and armed robberies (guns) on and just off UCSB campus, perpetrated on students, in broad daylight (including three in one week in May). It seems out of control. But I would hate to keep my daughter from applying if it is just a blip in an otherwise safe environment and the police have it, or are getting it, under control. I am hoping to hear from some current student/parents and whether or not they truly feel safe. Thanks!
What is your source? I live within 5 miles of campus and I don’t remember hearing about those incidents. As far as I know, the campus and Isla Vista are quite safe.
If you’re scared to attend school in the Santa Barbara area, there are likely very few places where you are going to feel comfortable.
I know that Santa Barbara is beautiful and generally safe, which is why this seems like it could be just a “blip”. There are countless schools where I would feel comfortable sending my daughter. However, after reading about all of the recent crime at UCSB/isla vista, it does scare me. It does not seem like the typical campus crime that you hear about across the country. I was in law enforcement in NYC and have seen plenty of crime. But, I have never heard of three armed robberies on any NYC campus, or any campus anywhere for that matter, in one week, another the following week, etc:
https://alert.ucsb.edu/latest.php
http://www.police.ucsb.edu/daily-crime-log
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/ucsb_reports_armed_robbery_in_parking_lot
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Isla-Vista-Shooting-Monday-303363461.html
http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=152476
I guess I am not the only concerned parent:
http://www.keyt.com/news/parents-share-their-concerns-about-isla-vista-crime/32991564
It might have to come off the list.
What is your source for the gang rapes? And why are you drawing up the college list for your daughter?
@socaldad2 the rapes were reported all over the news
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/02/24/students-on-edge-after-reported-gang-rape-near-ucsb/
I am not “drawing up” my daughters list. However, I will not pay for her to attend a college if I am in fear of her safety and if I don’t pay, she will not be able to attend…therefore it will have to come off of HER list.
You may try searching on Google for “fortified college campuses”. I doubt if you will get any hits.
After reading the source you cite, you should have said “One alleged nighttime gang rape almost two years ago.” Crimes like this are a big problem in most college communities. Also a big problem everywhere else.
I doubt if you will find many college communities that are safer than UCSB.
UCSB is as safe as any other large campus, if not safer. Any student anywhere should take normal precautions and not walk around late at night by themselves- it’s just common sense.
@socaldad2 I am not sure why I should have said that, since you can see from the link I provided, there were three “gang” sexual assaults on female students within a month in the past year. - 2014 - just as I originally said in my post.
From the link:
“What makes this case so unsettling for residents is the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department doesn’t know exactly where a 19-year-old UCSB student was severely beaten and gang-raped sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday.”
"This comes one night after another young woman was attacked in Isla Vista as she tried to get into her car. The university sent out a text about that too. IIt was kind of crazy because, two nights in a row?” said student Madeline van Demortel.
"
“This weekend’s two cases follow a separate alleged sexual assault in Isla Vista back in January in which two men and a juvenile were arrested for attacking an 18-year-old-woman.”
I do not agree that “crimes like this are a big problem in most college communities,” as you state. While I know that sexual assaults do happen at every campus, the above are not frat type incidents but instead violent gang rapes (and “severe beating”) by multiple strangers which have been described by law enforcement as possible gang initiations. Obviously, no sexual assault is acceptable, but these rapes and severe beating are a cause for concern to me, over and above “typical” campus crimes. If this type of thing is going on this often “everywhere” as you describe, this would be a very sad world.
In any event, I think that I have decided against her applying, which is a shame because It is a really great school and these might just be a few bad things that will not occur again in the future. By the way, this is the only school on her list that has scared me off, and she does have a few other UCs and several other large state schools on her list. I googled crime reports for all, and every single one obviously has crime, but none like what I saw here.
Ps two recent armed robberies in July and June of 2015 occurred at 5pm and 7pm on campus. One of the sexual assaults was also in daylight hours, not late at night.
No matter what everyone says, you seem to have already convinced yourself that UCSB is not a safe campus. If thats the case, simply don’t apply. There are plenty of other good schools out there.
Definitely take it off the list. You’re not going to sleep comfortably, given all the time you’ve given digging up dirt on UCSB. Let someone who wants to go there get her spot, meanwhile your D will get a fine education at any of the 3,000+ 4-year colleges in the US. Win-win, right?
@mikemac
unfortunately, it only took me a few seconds to google “armed robbery” and “ucsb” to get the info.
You seem offended. Sorry, that was not my intention.
I was not looking to “dig up dirt.” Just trying to be a well informed parent.
You are being an overly protective parent. When your daughter graduates from college will you forbid her from taking a job in NYC, LA, Chicago because there is a lot of crime in those cities?
I did not ask for your opinion on what kind of parent you think I am.
Further, I am not sure why you keep responding in this thread, since you have had nothing positive to add. However, since you asked, I will answer your question with courtesy (as required by the rules of CC) rather than criticize you, as you have criticized me twice already in your responses to my question (in violation of the rules of CC):
When my 17 year old becomes an adult who supports herself, she will live where she chooses. Until then, she lives by our rules - which by the way are few, and only in her best interest.
However, she is very intelligent and has been raised well, and I am sure that she will therefore do research to determine the best place for her, without just jumping in to any neighborhood blind. We will help her in any way we can, and will always offer sound advice.
She is very familiar with NYC and LA as she has lived in both places already. She loves them both, and likely will end up in one of the two.