Crimes Show Common Is Still Unsafe

The weekly number of reported sexual assaults in the area of the Cambridge Common temporarily jumped between March 12 and 19, further proving the Common is unsafe, but the one-week rise should not unduly alarm students, a Harvard police spokesman said yesterday.

Jeffrey S. Kahn, captain of police administrative services, said three women reported apparently unrelated sexual assaults during that week.

On March 17, Harvard policemen arrested a man whom one of the women then identified as her assailant and the policeman charged him with assault and battery, Kahn said. He added that no arrests were made in connection with the other two reported assaults.

No Cause for Alarm

The three sexual assault reports represent one-half of the current 1977 total of six reported assaults.

The one-week increase is statistically insignificant and should not alarm students, Kahn said.

An increase in the number of sexual assaults "tends to happen in the spring," Kahn said.

No one has reported any sexual assaults since March 19, Robert G. Mudge, Harvard police records coordinator, said yesterday. Sexual assaults include any assault with apparent sexual overtones and often consist only of light touching, Kahn said.

The three reported assaults occurred on the Common itself and on two nearby streets, Garden St. and Concord Ave., Kahn added.

While Kahn said women should not be too concerned about the recent incidents, he added. "I think it is reasonable to say the Common is unsafe."

Kahn said a Harvard policeman apprehended the one man charged with assault and battery six minutes after the alleged victim reported having been assaulted. The other two reported that assaults are probably not related to that case, he added.

Kahn declined to identify the women or the arrested man, but said the three women were members of the Harvard community