Crime Rate in S.D. Schools Dropping : Vandalism Remains a Serious Problem

The rate of school crime in both San Diego County and the state dropped last year, most dramatically in arrests for drug and alcohol abuse and in attacks by students using weapons on other students, according to the third annual state school crime report to the California Legislature being released today.

However, crime in California middle schools continues to outpace that in elementary and senior high schools statewide, and vandalism remains a serious problem for the San Diego Unified School District--the nation’s eighth largest--with $458,000 in property damages last year, the report says.

The crime report is submitted annually to the Legislature by state schools Supt. Bill Honig. The latest data covers the period from July 1, 1987 through June 30, 1988 and is considered the most accurate in the three years of reporting, although Honig cautioned that school districts still have some problems in compiling information uniformly.

Second in Attacks

The 352,519 students in the 42 San Diego County school districts represent the state’s second-largest county--after Los Angeles--in numbers of students. Although San Diego ranked second among counties in attacks by students using weapons, it ranked third in robberies and property crimes; fourth in sex-related offenses, possession of weapons and drug-related problems; and fifth in non-weapon assaults or threats by students.

Overall, San Diego ranked fourth among counties in total crimes by school-age youth. In all categories except possession of weapons--up 1%--and property crime--up 5%--the county’s crime rate dropped last year from 1986-87, the report says.

Among individual San Diego County districts, San Diego Unified, with 117,000 students or a third of all county students, had $458,000 in property crime, followed by Sweetwater secondary-school district in the South Bay with $282,000. Grossmont high school district in East County recorded $46,000 in property crime, and Poway listed only $250.

In the drug and alcohol abuse category, San Diego Unified recorded 25 crimes in its junior highs, 71 at the senior-high level and three in elementaries. Sweetwater reported 61 junior-high arrests and 71 senior-high arrests. Poway had 24 junior-high arrests and 41 senior-high arrests, while San Dieguito secondary schools in North County had 27 at their junior highs and 30 at their senior highs. Grossmont reported 94 drug arrests.

San Diego Unified tallied 111 non-weapon assaults or threats in junior highs and 90 in senior highs. Sweetwater reported 263 in junior highs and 154 in senior highs, while Poway reported 105 in junior highs and 102 at senior highs. Grossmont had 133 non-weapon assaults at high schools, and San Dieguito had 46 in junior highs and 50 in senior highs.

The state computes crime rates by converting a district’s raw numbers to a standardized rate based on an average-sized California school.

Among other statewide findings:

- The average California school reported 20.76 crimes last year, a drop of 6% over the three-year period. Drug-related crimes dropped 36% over the three years, and assaults with weapons dropped 24%. However, possession of weapons increased 12% over the three-year period, and vandalism rose 5%.

- Middle junior high schools show the highest rate among all schools, with 38.8 crimes per average school, although drug and weapon assaults have dropped. However, Honig said that the increases in vandalism and weapons possessions show that administrators have not yet dealt effectively with crime-related problems among adolescents.

- The number of assault and property crimes at schools carried out by non-students increased as a percentage of total crimes. Burglaries are committed almost three times as often by non-students as by students.