1989 witnessed crime upsurge at U.

The total number of on-campus crimes reported to University Police last year rose by more than 100 incidents over 1988, reversing the previous year's decline in reports. But University Police spokesperson Sylvia Canada emphasized yesterday that the bulk of the increase was in theft of unattended valuables, which rose from 1203 to 1313 incidents, pushing the overall total to 1721. Canada also noted that the categories with the highest number of reports -- theft, burglary, vandalism and car theft -- were not crimes against people. The statistics were part of a University study published earlier this month which lists all campus crimes reported to University Police over the last three years. Senior Vice President Marna Whittington said last night that although the rise in non-violent crimes is of concern to the University, crimes against people are the administration's primary concern. Whittington said the report is published and released to the University community both because it is mandated by state law and because "we're trying really hard to let people know what's going on." According to the report, which is published annually, over 62 percent of last year's 1721 reported crimes were thefts. The report also states that there were 185 vandalism incidents, 125 burglaries and 36 car thefts in 1989. Only four aggravated assaults and no murders, rapes, attempted rapes or arsons were reported to the department. An aide to State Senator Chaka Fattah, whose district includes the University, said she did not know what schools must do to comply with the law's requirement of informing students and employees of the statistics. According to a report released by the state this summer, the University tallied the second highest number of crimes on any Pennsylvania college campus, ranking below only Pennsylvania State University. The University's study includes reports made only to University Police and does not include incidents reported only to the Philadelphia Police.

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