Southside crime

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Bleh, just hearing the number of crimes occurring in southside just make me feel even more unsafe in Berkeley, especially since the majority of them are close to where I live. </p>

<p>A girl getting jumped near Unit 1 (Unit 1, seriously? and at 4 PM in broad daylight, no less) by 3 guys. </p>

<p>I think there was an armed robbery around 6 PM somewhere else in Southside--can't remember where though.</p>

<p>Armed robbery over by Hillegass@Dwight around 10 PM last Sunday--I walk through that cross-section every day to/from class, and I was in the exact same area by myself at around 10 the day before the incident occurred. That was kind of a wake-up call for me, because it could just as easily have been me if it just a day earlier. I mean, I'll still walk back myself if it's around 9ish (I have to for club-related stuff) but I know that even then, I'm taking my chances. </p>

<p>Plus, a homicide southside near Ashby and Shattuck.. (first homicide of the year, and only three weeks in! what an accomplishment). </p>

<p>All of these crimes were in just the past week.</p>

<p>Geez...I shouldn't have to feel the need to keep looking over my shoulder if I'm walking alone at 9 PM, or even earlier, depending on what day of the week it is and if no one one's walking in the same area. Anyone else feel this way?</p>

<p>But anyway, just imploring people here to make use of Bearwalk if they're walking back late at night. Yeah, you can think it's lame, but the Bearwalk people are actually very friendly, and it's better to have a walking escort than be mugged while staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. I've used Bearwalk before, and while I stopped using it for awhile and just took my chances walking back at night, I'm not doing that anymore. Any time after 10, and I'm using it.</p>

<p>Those at People's Park may complain about increased police presence Southside, but I'm all for upping the police in the area if it'll lessen the crime there.</p>

2

<p>wow. I live on hillegass and dwight. </p>

<p>i always thought I was really safe. I would always go out late at night and I would have never suspected that type of danger. </p>

<p>Thanks for the post. I guess I’ll pay more attention and be more careful about when I leave. </p>

<p>You’re scaring me, btw. I always felt safe here in Berkeley, but not anymore.</p>

3

<p>Sorry to freak you out, but better to be aware and a little concerned than unaware and caught off-guard, I guess? Not saying that you should walk around scared or never go out at night, but keep on your toes. Being alert/looking at your surroundings as you walk, not listening to your iPod at night and being distracted will all help. Although, I have to wonder how you felt totally safe walking around Berkeley–I can’t say I’ve ever had that feeling at night.</p>

<p>The other armed robbery was near Channing and Ellsworth/Atherton btw. </p>

<p>Also, not that anyone would, but don’t go near the Grove (bunch of trees/wooded area on the west side of campus near VLSB) at night because apparently a ton of people have been sexually assaulted there in recent years.</p>

4

<p>Campus and city police have crime maps:
[Crime</a> Map UCPD and BPD Data](<a href=“http://police.berkeley.edu/crimemap/]Crime”>http://police.berkeley.edu/crimemap/)
[Community</a> CrimeView - City of Berkeley, CA](<a href=“The City of Berkeley”>The City of Berkeley)</p>

5

<p>i dunno. Everything always feels so calm at night. I feel like nothing could happen because of how silent it is. </p>

<p>But I usually do try to stay alert about my surroundings. </p>

<p>And I had a friend who was robbed on ellsworth so it may be that same guy.</p>

<p>The school should hire some security guards for on campus purposes. No one should be getting sexually assaulted on campus.</p>

<p>edit: although I have seen some crime. Last year when I lived in Unit 2 Griffiths, some big black guy was at the ground floor trying to get onto the elevator. He and his friend were waiting there, and someone had already used their key to signal for the elevator. That person later left after waiting for 2 minutes and I waited around. I was pretty stupid for sticking around because it was obvious that guy wasn’t apart of the dorm and he kept asking me when the elevator was coming. The guy was huge, bald, and had a Brahma bull tattoo on his arm like the Rock.</p>

<p>But me being the stupid person I am, walked into the elevator with them and thankfully they chose the first floor and got off. Later that night, the friend the of big black guy was with was an undercover cop and the black guy was robbing the dorm. I heard a lot of screaming outside and the white guy was chasing the big black guy and arrested him outside my window in the courtyard of unit 2. I also a student that lived on the first floor also being arrested. I guess he was in on it.</p>

6

<p>Way back when, dorms seemed to have a lot of theft problems, probably because a lot of the residents had grown up in low crime areas and were not used to locking doors and windows, watching for suspicious* unknown people, etc.</p>

<ul>
<li>and many students’ definition of “suspicious” was often one that left a lot of false positives and negatives.</li>
</ul>

7

<p>There are like 8+ crime alerts in Unit 1 just this past week <<em>>… Very crazy… Apparently theft problems are still occurring in the dorms since there are crime alerts like: A double room was broke in during 3AM last night. The thieves (not sure if they are students or outsides) pick locked their way into the students’ room and were able to escape with several expensive items without being caught. Makes me worry even when I’m sleeping at night now -</em>__- .</p>

<p>And I never heard about that homicide… I hope the victim’s family the best =… cruel people these days…</p>

8

<p>@ankur: Isn’t there someone that scans ID cards when you enter the building? (is it just unit 3 that does that? Haven’t been in the others…) </p>

<p>I just noticed there was a theft at Ida Sproul in the afternoon…just me being paranoid here, but is it safe walking from the unit 3 “dungeon” to priestly at like 12?..I’ve been having to do that so I can study (loud floormates), but I’m pretty freaked out now…</p>

<p>This is crazy…I thought I was safe walking back from campus at 9…but thinking back…it gets pretty silent by 7 D: What’s the safest place to live in Berkeley?</p>

<p>What do you guys do when you have to walk back after dark?</p>

9

<p>I’m trying to join more clubs this semester, but it seems like most of the meetings end super late at night…usually around 8 or 9 pm. and if meetings are held near tolman/vlsb area, it’s even more quiet/dark. Do you guys know what people usually do?</p>

10

<p>All the units (1,2,3) scan your ID before you enter… which means the theft that was posted on crime alert is most likely a resident… which is worst… er.</p>

11

<p>walk with people you know from the club?</p>

<p>the units only scan your ID after 5pm. Unless they changed that…</p>

12

<p>^Yup, but they changed it to 6 now.</p>

13

<p>@meep,candygurl and anyone else: For those who are wondering about what to do with late night walking (for clubs, etc)–walk back with people from the club to the main area of Sproul, and then it should be somewhat safer for you to walk back from Sproul to your dorm/apartment. Definitely don’t make the walk from Tolman/VLSB back to Sproul by yourself, especially since it gets really quite up northside at night, and like I said before, there were some assaults in that area before.</p>

<p>Also, USE BEARWALK, because I realize it’s not always feasible to get one of your friends to walk with you. Gonna reiterate what I said before:</p>

<p>“But anyway, just imploring people here to make use of Bearwalk if they’re walking back late at night. Yeah, you can think it’s lame, but the Bearwalk people are actually very friendly, and it’s better to have a walking escort than be mugged while staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. I’ve used Bearwalk before, and while I stopped using it for awhile and just took my chances walking back at night, I’m not doing that anymore. Any time after 10, and I’m using it.”</p>

<p>Also, @meep: I think it’s fairly safe to walk back from the Unit 3 dungeon to your dorm hall late at night. I did it plenty of times last year, anyway. There are risks anywhere, of course, because you’ll be outside at night, but given that it’s a short walk from the study area to your dorm, you’ll be pretty safe.</p>

14

<p>These are definitely very scary and I encourage people, both men and women, to use BearWalk to get you home safely. Or walk with a large group of friends, or anyone else you know at all. That said, although scary and very close to us, some of the crimes are not as dangerous as you think. Unfortunately for the man who was killed on Shattuck near Ashby, he was targeted specifically by the murderer. I hope no one has that problem here. The other ones seem random and could happen to anyone at anytime apparently. Just take precautions to minimize that chance. </p>

<p>Some of the stories are pretty scary though. 4 PM? Really? I live right next to Unit 1 and have never heard anything. But all these thefts and muggings do scare me some. I think I’ll just run if I even sense I’m in danger. I feel a person with a gun only has it to instill fear. I feel most people won’t shoot. Of course, there could be that one time…but I’d take a chance and run. And any other weapon of choice would need close proximity, so running makes sense to me since I’m faster than what I envision most muggers dress like.</p>

15

<p>Dont be chicken. Berkeley isnt that bad. I guess it seems bad if you come from an upper middle class household.</p>

16

<p>living on south side after freshman year IS a crime.</p>

17

<p>But man…I’m just wondering what the kids in the kendo club do…I wanted to join until I saw their practice is from 10-12 at night o_O</p>

18

<p>^They’re coming from KENDO club… What do you think they’d do if they were attacked? :p</p>

19

<p>@Investment: Obviously, yeah people shouldn’t stop walking around at night just because they could get mugged. Nothing wrong with doing stuff like walking with a friend or using BearWalk when possible, and if you have to walk by yourself at night, just being aware of the possibilities of crime. If you came from a city with a lot more crime than Berkeley, like say Oakland or elsewhere, I can understand why you’d be scornful though.</p>

<p>@crowslayer: LOL. I mainly chose Southside because all of my classes are southside. Next year, I might choose an apartment northside–but given that the northside of campus is quieter than Southside at night and people have been attacked there before, it might not actually be that much safer.</p>

20

<p>hahaha yeah. Bamboo shinai v. gun 8D </p>

<p>I guess whipping out your keys/lanyard and spinning them around in front of you could always work too.</p>