School crimes on rise

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, Oct. 6, 2005 | 7:31 a.m.

The number of arrests and criminal citations at Clark County School District campuses increased sharply during the 2004-05 academic year but Police Chief Hector Garcia said that isn't necessarily bad news.

In 2004-05 the number of campus criminal citations jumped to 3,212 from 1,959 in the prior academic year. Arrests increased to 1,111 in 2004-05 from 635.

Some might figure the district's increase in school police officers, campuses and students explains the increases. However the district added nearly as many new students and schools between 2002-03 and 2003-04 -- and arrests and criminal citations declined.

Garcia, who took over as chief in February, said he believes the increases are a result of his orders that officers "be more proactive than reactive" and spend more time getting to know students at the schools.

"When you build relationships with the students they feel more comfortable coming to you and saying, 'Hey, Johnny brought a gun to school,' " Garcia said. "It helps our officers be more effective and have more of an impact."

Beyond the arrests and criminal citations, the districtwide crime statistics showed slight to moderate increases in nearly every category over the prior academic year.

The number of reported incidents involving drug possession totaled 467, up from 450. Reported incidents of drug sales on campuses were also up -- 48 compared with 34 the prior year.

Garcia said his department reviews campus crime statistics tallied by the district's education services division as part of the "persistently dangerous schools" provision of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The statistics allow school police to compare activity at various campuses and respond accordingly, Garcia said.

That information is reported on an annual basis. Garcia said he plans to meet with Edward Goldman, associate superintendent of education services, to discuss whether the data could be tallied and shared at more frequent intervals.

"I'd like to see us develop a forecast at the end of each semester," Garcia said. "Then we could identify some of the trends and not wait until the next school year to respond."

The annual tally of the prior year's campus activity is released each September. School-by-school numbers for each of the 14 categories, including assaults, burglaries and parking violations, are not made public.

But federal law requires districts to detail some disciplinary statistics -- including drug activity, violence and weapons possession -- for each school as part of annual accountability reports. Clark County's reports are posted on the district and school Web sites, and printed copies are also made available on campus.

D.J. Stutz, past president of the Nevada PTA, said campus crime statistics can be a deciding factor for families considering moving to Clark County or even moving to a new neighborhood.

"As a parent I would want to know what was happening at a school and what the campus was doing to address any problems," Stutz said.

This is the first time the annual report has been generated using a new computer database, installed in in part to make the reporting requirements of the federal law easier to fulfill. It also brings the district in compliance with the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting requirements.

Using the database, the local School Police are able to separate incidents in which a gun was reported but not recovered from incidents where weapons were actually found. Similar distinctions may also be made for incidents involving knives.

The district cut its number of "miscellaneous" events to 5,148 from the prior year's 8,567. That was accomplished by encouraging campus officers to separate minor "information" reports, such as a school employee losing her keys, from incidents that required further action.

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or by e-mail at emily@lasvegassun.com.