Recent crimes don’t reflect statistics

Justin Hirsch, a 21-year-old San Luis Obispo resident, was walking downtown at approximately 2:40 a.m. Feb. 6 when a man attacked him, stabbing him multiple times. He doesn’t remember exactly where he was stabbed downtown — he was too busy fighting and hanging on for his life. He and his coworkers managed to get to a nearby house.

“(I was) trying to get a hold of 911,” Hirsch said. “I felt like I was dying; I wanted help.”

Hirsch said he considers himself pretty “strong-hearted” and was able to survive the attack after seeking immediate medical attention. He said his attempted murder was a one-in-a-million thing and he still feels pretty safe downtown.

Hirsch wasn’t the only person calling 911 that week. In a span of 28 hours, the normally quiet town of San Luis Obispo suddenly became a hot spot for crime. There were three assaults with deadly weapons, the attempted murder of Hirsch and an armed robbery. Then there was a brief lull in violent crimes until the following weekend, when there was a drive-by shooting at a local restaurant.

Despite this flare up of violent crime, statistics and residents say it isn’t a trend and students can learn basic steps to prevent them from occurring.

Recent crime reports show that between 2004 and 2009, aggravated assaults in San Luis Obispo have decreased, but there has been a rise in forcible rape and robberies. Still, reported violent crime overall — aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder, manslaughter or robbery — has shown a decrease since 2004, going from a crime every 2.1 days to every 2.6 days in 2009.

According to the same FBI reports, Cal Poly reported five violent crimes in 2004 and two in 2009. The Cal Poly Clery Report, issued by campus police, doesn’t currently report violent crimes for 2009. The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division said the discrepancies were only because they asked for different information than the Clery Act did. Regardless, the numbers are still low.

UPD Chief of Police Bill Watton said campus crime statistics are too low to see a trend and half of the arrests are made off campus.

“San Luis County is fairly safe, when you look at statistics statewide … campus is very safe if you look at statistics,” Watton said. “However, things can happen. We do get people going up and down the 101. We do see now in the last few years more people coming here to party that have no other connection … not that (the increase in people) means that they’re fighting necessarily.”

He attributes a lot of crime occurring in San Luis Obispo to alcohol and because Cal Poly is a dry campus, they don’t see the same crimes they do in the city.

“If you put yourself in the position of diminished capacity, your chances are much greater that you are going to be a victim of a crime,” Watton said. “It’s probably proportional in that alcohol at parties, bars, etc. have more crime than no alcohol, not in a bar. If you’re around the party scene, alcohol makes people do things that they would not normally do, and that includes fighting, it includes sexual assaults.”

Kristy McCray, the Sexual Assault Recovery and Prevention (SARP) Center executive director, said the statistics released by law enforcement are not accurate. While forcible rape and aggravated assault are included in the Clery Act and FBI reports, it does not reflect the statistic that one in four college women are sexually assaulted before they graduate.

“About 60 percent of the people we see (have) reported to law enforcement, and 40 percent haven’t,” McCray said.

The SARP Center offers self-defense courses to better prepare people in case of an attack. They pass out whistles to attendees because calling attention to your situation is the best way to deter attackers. McCray keeps her whistle on her keychain.

“Personally, I fear carrying a weapon because it can be used against me,” she said. “I’m not familiar (with) how to use a knife, or honestly even pepper spray. I would rather be alert, be assertive, be aware, and have those minimal techniques and use the whistle if I need to.”

The Sexual Assault Free Environment Resource (SAFER) Program is located on campus and offers a lot of the same services as the SARP Center with easy access to students. Kara Barbieri, a SAFER volunteer and psychology senior, suggests being alert and assertive in speech and manner, not appearing vulnerable.

“A lot of that can be correlated with people taking away their focus from the environment that they are in,” Barbieri said.

Chad Reiley, the UPD officer in charge of campus crime prevention, said he cannot stress enough the importance of students being aware of their surroundings.

“They hear us say it, and I don’t know if they don’t take it to heart or they just feel safe here, so they don’t feel it necessary,” Reiley said. “But if you just go outside and look at all the students walking around on campus, a lot of them have earphones on, they have their iPods going, they have their ears plugged, they’re texting … all these things in my opinion are a distraction to what’s around you.”

He recommends students stay aware, use services like the campus escort van, take a route that goes by the Blue Light emergency towers and go out in pairs. He also advises for students to always have a sober friend when attending parties or bars, one who can not only look out for friends and make sound judgments for them but also drive them home. Taking a self-defense class also help.

“I do understand why everyone is so complacent; we do live in a really safe place,” Reiley said. “Just be aware, it does go on and it does happen every once in awhile.”

Even with the recent streak of violent crime, some city residents still feel safe.

San Luis Obispo resident Fredy Graciano was working at Tonita’s Mexican Restaurant in downtown when the drive-by shooting between customers occurred. Graciano heard the gunshot, but originally thought it was a customer’s balloon popping. It wasn’t until the men came in, urging him to call the police that he realized what had happened. He has worked nights for four years and has always felt safe. He still does, and considers the crime just a random occurrence, not a trend.

“I never have any fear,” Graciano said. “I still love this place. This town is the best in the world.”