<p>There have been many crime alert recently, and those email reports indicate that the criminal offence happened just a block away from campus. I've never been to USC before, and I wonder if it is a safe environment.</p>
<p>Are outside people free to walk in? Do USC students face potential threats?</p>
<p>Maybe my concern sounds silly but...I don't really wanna see somebody taking his weapon out when I walk around the school.</p>
<p>no it isn’t that bad. The area isn’t some place that’s devoid of law and order. In fact, most people are very peaceful. However LA’s a huge city (4m people) and even if we say 99.9% of people are good, that still leaves 4k that are not, many of whom are in that area, and neighboring areas of the city.</p>
<p>that being said UCPD does a pretty good job of protecting people at night. If you walked in a group, chances are no one would attempt to rob you or anything. It’s worth noting that USC is a world-class school and they’ve done A LOT in terms of redevelopment to change the area. </p>
<p>I can’t think of any other investors investing as much into the area as USC is, which is both a good thing, and a bad thing, for different people (gentrification = higher cost of living, which means that the people living there would eventually have to move out. However, i heard this has happened in new york, and that people just had to deal with it)</p>
<p>while i still stand behind my point that the neighborhood sucks (how many USC alumni stay there after they graduate??) it’s more than safe enough, and the neighborhood’s safety isn’t even something i’d take into consideration if i was trying to figure out whether or not i should attend USC.</p>
<p>Thanks that sounds really reassuring…~
I was just worried about safety because I am an international student and I’ll be there all by myself</p>
<p>JSongsy,</p>
<pre><code>There are many threads about this on the USC Forum. Use search to help. I suggest going to the USC website: University of Southern California . On the front page you will find a menu. On the menu are photos of the university, many of them. Click on that link and note the beautiful courtyards and numerous fountains on campus.
On the 30th of April USC is hosting the Book Festival on campus. Over 100, 000 people are expected to attend.
May 13th is Commencement. You can access a live video of the event on the website. It is full of tradition and the graduates wear cardinal and gold neckpieces…very colorful.
California’s governor has a daughter at SC. David Newman, the noted composer, has a daughter at SC as does Ray Romano and Lee Trevino.
</code></pre>
<p>i did a small paper last year and ucla area had more assaults/robberies than ours</p>
<p>^ That sounds extremely accurate. So much so I am guessing that you didn’t feel the need to post any links or hard evidence because it was so believable that you didn’t feel the need for redundancy’s sake.</p>
<p>oh just one suggestion i give to all students… if you get a bike don’t get a nice one. just get one that is serviceable. i would say most people get their bike stolen at least once during their 4 years at USC lol.</p>
<p>^This seems to be a problem at most schools. D received the same advice at MIT and Harvard. Bikes seem to be worth their weight in gold at all colleges.</p>
<p>@Jsongsy, in February, I attended a meeting at USC hosted by their security team. They went on and on about how safe it is. They have many close-circuit cameras set up. They even told us that there are so many cameras that it is possible to “walk” a student home using the cameras. In other words, if a student is out late, she/he can call security. They will find her/him on the camera and will have a visual of them until they reach their dorm. Really! The campus itself is rather enclosed and I do believe from what I saw that it would be very difficult for an obvious stranger to get very far without being stopped at least once.</p>
<p>You will be fine. USC has a nice campus and I would definitely not classify it as dangerous.</p>
<p>Wow, their security team sounds really coollll~~~Hope its gonna be an nice and safe adventure for me at USC</p>
<p>I worried about that a lot for my son. He has lived off campus now for 2 years, just west of campus off Vermont, A homeless guy swings by every now in the alley but he has never had a problem or felt very unsafe on campus or in the immediate area around campus.</p>
<p>I saw this question arise a few times when I was applying, and let me address the question as I see it, after being here for a year.</p>
<p>To start, yes, the area is very safe. DPS does a great job of securing not only USC but also the areas around USC. DPS is a high paying job with good benefits ($65k/year + free tuition to USC + other benefits), so the officers take it very seriously, but at the same time, they are there to protect students. </p>
<p>DPS is always your friend. No matter how much you might hate the police/authority/whatever, DPS has never ****ed me off really. They’re not there to get you in trouble, they’re there to protect you. Now that doesn’t mean that you should walk down the row and offer an officer a beer as a freshman (like my friend did, and got away with it), but if you play it safe, DPS will never give you too much of a hassle.</p>
<p>With regards to bikes - wheels will get stolen. I recommend a lock for your front and back wheel if you plan on getting a bike. Also, be smart about where you park it. I live in Trojan hall and a lot of people complain about their wheels getting stolen when they park their bikes in the courtyard, but its very secluded from DPS so people can get away with it easily. Instead I recommend you find a good place to lock up your bike if you want one (for Trojan I would recommend locking your bike across the street at Popovich Hall, a well taken care of, well-lit building). Personally I use a longboard because its convenient in the sense that I can carry it around with me, don’t have to lock it, etc. and I recommend you do as well. Also, I’ve seen sting operations by DPS to try and catch people steal bikes, so they definitely make a conscious effort to stop bike theives.</p>
<p>Overall, being here for a year, I’ve walked all over and around campus even past 3am, which is when security leaves, and never had too much of a problem. Before that, there are security officers at almost every off-campus street that you’ll need to go to. President Obama spoke at USC, and DPS worked that day to protect him as well, which says something about the quality of our security. </p>
<p>While I don’t recommend going to the grocery store at night alone, I’ve done it multiple times and never encountered any problem.</p>
<p>Overall, just play it safe, don’t go TOO far off campus (you really wont ever need to walk very far, you’ll probably take a car to any place that might be unsafe anyways), and just don’t be stupid and I’m sure your experience at USC will be a safe one.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the details!!</p>
<p>By the way, why are the bad buys so obsessed with stealing bikes? What about the cars?
Let’s say somebody purchases a Mercedes Benz and parks it at school. Would anything happen??</p>
<p>Just curious~</p>
<p>Many have cars at USC and hopefully everyone has insurance.</p>
<p>Jsongsy… there are so many nice cars at USC… lol your benz would be one of many.</p>
<p>nahhh…of course I’d like to have one but that’s too expensive for meee =)</p>
<p>My son had his bike stolen from the supposedly secure and locked parking area of his USC-owned apartment building. The bike was also locked with a very good lock. Police were called but couldn’t do much. Very distressing. I wish we’d had a separate college student insurance policy on it and after this experience I bought one. I was afraid the laptop might be next.</p>
<p>In my experience, most bike thefts are from bikes not being locked to anything. And most bike thefts are crimes of opportunity, not premeditated. “Breaking in” to a “secure” courtyard or parking area of an apartment complex is not hard at all. just wait for someone to open the door to come out, and then walk in while the door is open.</p>
<p>After having read and heard about USC being in a bad neighborhood, I feel I must comment now that we have visited and toured the surrounding area. </p>
<p>Perhaps it is because we live in another big city, Chicago, but we found the neighborhood in the immediate vicinity of USC ( 1-2 blocks in each direction) was like any regular big city neighborhood. Strip malls with small businesses, fast food joints and people (of all races) waiting for busses on the corners. Nothing out of the ordinary. We purposely drove south of campus to witness the supposed “ghetto” that so many people seem to fear- and it took a good 5 minutes to notice the neighborhood changing. Eventually it did get pretty rough (think “Boys in the Hood”) However, one would have to make a concerted effort to get anywhere close to the “bad neighborhood” and, since there was nothing down there to do/buy- I can’t imagine why anyone would head that way.</p>
<p>Another observation- while on campus, my D and I noticed tons of unlocked bikes. More unlocked than locked and she, being a city kid, was shocked to see that. She wondered what is to stop someone from the “ghetto” from coming onto campus and stealing one of the hundreds of unlocked bikes? We figured the gate security would prevent it. Well, lo and behold, as we were walking towards the car, we saw a young boy riding a bike and a USC secutrity guard on his Segway giving chase. It was somewhat comical to see because there was NO WAY that guard was gonna catch the boy on that bike. he was gone. </p>
<p>The lady giving the dorm tours said several times- if you leave anything laying around (laptop, phone, laundry soap, food, etc) it will be stolen. Period. And she meant stolen by other USC students- not the kids from the so-called “ghetto.” Theft is a non-violent crime of opportunity. Smart kids know how to steal without getting caught. So, lock your stuff & you won’t have any issues.</p>
<p>You’re welcome ;)</p>
<p>I don’t feel the immediate area around USC is in any worse area than our very urban suburb of Washington, DC. Doesn’t bother me at all to walk around. But we are used to city life. Some kids are not. </p>
<p>Son’s bike was indeed stolen while it was locked TO something. He is an experienced cyclist with plenty of street smarts who has ridden literally thousands of miles without incident until this theft.</p>
<p>He also was a witness to a car being broken into and a purse snatched from the car, right in front of him, on Figueroa.</p>
<p>So, yes, there is crime in LA. No surprise. There are also many hardworking and respectable people in the nearby neighborhoods. They are victimized as well.</p>
<p>Hmm, I don’t know how you guys have seen all those crimes just from visiting, and I haven’t seen a single one after being a student there for 3 years. Not that I’m doubting you or anything (somebody sees them after all) but it’s just curious.</p>
<p>Anyone with a pair of bolt cutters and a few minutes can steal a well locked-up bike. That’s even how DPS removes bikes from racks when they need to. Locks are a deterrent, but they will not ensure your bike is safe. And even if they don’t steal your bike, they can still steal parts off it. My seat and post were stolen last semester, leaving the rest of the bike still locked up.</p>