Crime Wave Hits Campuses

Several area colleges are reporting outbreaks of violent crimes such as assault and armed robberies, though Harvard police said crime levels have remained normal on campus.

The crimes at the area campuses include four armed robberies last week at MIT and several assaults and robberies at other colleges, such as Boston University, Brandeis University and Boston College.

Harvard police, however, maintain that the crimes at other campuses are not affecting Harvard and that the department is operating under standard procedure.

"We have had no robberies for some time and we've taken no different measures," said Harvard Police Lt. John F. Rooney. "We still have our routine cop patrols...The robberies seem to be concentrated down at MIT."

MIT police and Cambridge police have increased patrols around the MIT campus, where there were four armed robberies over the span of four days.

"We've sent another unit down there and have increased both car and foot patrols in the MIT area," Cambridge Police Detective Frank Pasquarello said yesterday.

MIT police chief Anne P. Glavin could not be reached for comment yesterday.

In the first attack October 16, a campus visitor was held at gunpoint near the corner of Vassar and Main Streets, according to reports in The Boston Globe. Five hours later, in two separate incidents, students were held up by two people with a small handgun, the Globe reported. The robbers fled with $5 and $11 from the students.

Last Tuesday, an MIT student was robbed at knifepoint at 2:30 a.m. near the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Amherst Street. The assailant made off with $4, The Globe reported.

The recent robberies at MIT are not the only incidents of violent crime at area campuses.

Brandeis Crimes

During the last four months at Brandeis, a breakout in crime has prompted a 10 percent increase in the usage of safety vans and the student escort service, according to Administrative Sergeant Bette Tehan of the Brandeis Police Department.

She adds, however, that police efforts have not been stepped up and that the department "has done nothing differently" since the beginning of the year.

Since July, Brandeis police have reported an acquaintance rape, four assaults and an incident in which a lone female was attacked from behind while walking to an off-campus dorm.

Boston University Police have recorded 10 simple assaults, one armed robbery and one assault with a dangerous weapon since September. The B.U. police have stepped up efforts to better deal with violent crime, according to Lt. Robert Gaffney, manager of support services for the B.U. Police Department.

"We added a uniformed bicycle patrol...It makes it easier to get around in traffic and they tend not to be noticed. Also, our cops are writing reports in cruisers, instead of at the station, and this allows them to stay on the streets," Gaffney said.

At Boston College, three female students were attacked during a three-week span from mid-September to early October, according to The Globe report. The police recorded one sexual assault and two physical assaults on the campus.

Two of the attacks occurred in the Chestnut Hill area of campus, one on a stairway leading to dormitories and the other between two dorms. The other attack occurred in a B.C. owned, student-occupied house on Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton.