Assaults in '06 up sharply from '05

Reports of aggravated assault on and around campus are way up from last year, and safety officials blame student-to-student violence.

Already, there have been 25 aggravated assaults in the vicinity of campus, compared to 10 in all of last year and eight in 2004.

According to Penn's Division of Public Safety, this is a result of a surge in cases where students have allegedly attacked other students, especially in cases involving alcohol.

Aggravated assault is defined as the inflicting of serious bodily injury using a deadly weapon with an indifference to human life, according to the Pennsylvania Penal Code.

In one current case, College senior Bryce LeFort and Wharton senior Stephen Lande were charged with aggravated assault after an incident in which College senior Andrew Scharf was smashed in the head with a beer bottle outside of Copabanana at 40th and Spruce streets.

The two face preliminary hearings in the coming weeks.

A DPS official said in an e-mail that the increase in aggravated assaults is recognized as a growing issue and that DPS plans to work with Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum and the Office of Student Conduct to address it. The official did not specify what exactly those departments will do to address the issue, though.

Engineering and Wharton junior Alexis Wong said she considers drunk students to be the root of aggravated assaults on campus, though she does not personally feel endangered.

"Drunk students . damage everything," Wong said. "I see it as the host's duty to cut people off when they clearly have had too much or kick them out."

While other crimes this year have not seen changes as significant as that experienced by aggravated assault, several have taken swings in specific directions:

n The number of bike thefts also has nearly doubled from two years ago, as there have been 108 in 2006, compared to 95 and 68 through October in 2005 and 2004, respectively.

DPS officials, however, said a majority of the year's thefts occurred during the spring semester, and that the numbers are down this fall from fall last year.

n Minor drops were recorded for robberies and burglaries through October. While robberies were still at a higher level than in 2004, they have dropped to 57 from 71 in 2005 at this time. Burglaries, meanwhile, have dropped to 54 from 61 last year at this time.

DPS credits the drops to Operation Safe, which has added lighting and police presence in the highest-crime regions in the Penn Patrol Zone.

The area included in the Penn Patrol Zone ranges from the Schuylkill River to 43rd Street and from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.