University police’s primary job is to keep the community safe, not only by combatting and deterring crime, but also by keeping the public up-to-date with relevant and timely crime bulletins.
Currently, UCPD uses a standard policy to release crime bulletins that hinges on whether or not there is eminent threat involved. But the failure of police to issue a bulletin after a recent alleged sexual assault attempt highlights that this system is problematic, and that police should err on the side of giving the public more, rather than less, information. Students can then be more aware of public safety issues and take precautions.
On Feb. 28, there was an alleged sexual assault attempt at 403 Landfair Ave. in the middle of the day. The police apprehended a suspect 10 minutes after receiving a call about the alleged incident. He is now being held on $1 million bail.
No bulletin was released after the arrest, and crime logs, which detail all UCPD calls and are normally released to the Daily Bruin regularly, were not sent until four days later.
University police said they did not release information about the incident right away because there was no immediate danger. Police also do not want to cause “undue stress” for the victim, according to UCPD spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein.
Greenstein added that the logs should have come out on time, but an unknown error in the system made them several days late.
UCPD has a standardized process to determine whether to send out a crime bulletin, and most times when a suspect is apprehended they will not send out a bulletin. This is similar to the procedure that the West Los Angeles Police Department follows: When a suspect has been caught, release an alert if there may be other victims or investigators are seeking additional witnesses.
Greenstein also said it was important to not put out an excess of bulletins, as people might stop paying attention.
However, because Westwood is a small university community, this board feels that incidents which may be severe and violent merit a bulletin.
Studies show that instances of rape are higher among college women – more than 5 percent of college women were raped in the past year, compared to the nearly 1 percent of women in the general population. Because sexual violence toward college women is more common, students should have been informed about the alleged sexual assault attempt so they can stay alert.
Though police did not release a crime bulletin after the alleged assault attempt at Theta Chi early Friday morning, we understand why they may have made that decision. The West Los Angeles Police Department typically does not issue immediate crime alerts in rape cases where the parties involved know each other because it is not a public safety issue.
In the future, UCPD must be more proactive in informing the community about local crimes.
If they issue too many bulletins, people will stop paying attention to them.
People already don’t pay attention to them, and the Daily Bruin doesn’t help. It’s not like the Daily Bruin covers the news with any originality anyway. The last line could also read, in the future, the Daily Bruin must be more proactive in informing the community about local crimes.