VOL. 90
COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901
NO. 2.")
- .Vv.,
*■- ' ' v- ■ II nil i . 'DmiBrPWMWW
KEN CAUBLE, the University of N ebraska-Lincoln Police Chief, credits his de|>artment’s successes in reducing campus crime to better
crime prevention education efforts, the community service officers and changes in patrolling patterns.
Campus crime continues slide
This week, the Dally Nebraskan will pro
vide a five-part, in-depth look at crime on
the University of Nehraska-Lincoln campus.
By Matthew Waite
Special Projects Reporter
For three years, the University of Nehraska
Lincoln has enjoyed a steady drop in campus
crime — the third largest among U.S. univer
sity campuses from 1993 to 1994.
The slide continued in 1995, with further
decreases in larceny, motor vehicle theft, ob
scene phone calls and indecent exposure.
UNL Police Chief Ken Cauble predicted the
trend would continue, then level and then maybe
bounce back up a bit. When the bounce-back
comes, he said, the department will make
changes to compensate.
According to a database of 1996 crime re
ports, Cauble’s prediction is on track: Crime is
lower on campus this year than it was last year
at this time.
Crimes on campus, university police offic
ers say, are mostly crimes of opportunity. An
unlocked door. An unwatched wallet.
Violent crimes are few. Of violent crimes,
only two categories show up: felony assault, of
which there have been two in die past two years;
and misdemeanor assault, of which there were
35 in calendar year 1995 and 19 so far in 1996.
There were no reported homicides or first
or second-degree sexual assaults in 1995 and
1996. There woe no weapons charges filed hi
1996, either.
The most frequently reported campus crimes
are larcenies, obscene phone calls and burglar
ies.
Mae larcenies are reported to the UNL po
lice than all other crimes combined. When it
conies to campus crime rates in general, larce*
nies are the movers and shakers—they usually
anchor the measurements of campus crime
trends.
From 1993 to 1994, larceny dropped 27 per
cent, fueling a 30.5 percent drop in total cam
pus crime. Larcenies dropped another 5 percent
from 1994 to 1995.
With three months left to go in 19%, larce
nies are on pace to drop even further.
As of Sept. 13, campus police had received
352 larceny reports. At the same time last year,
435 larcenies had been reported.
Other crime categories had decreased from
last September’s count, as well. They include:
• Burglary: 29, compared to 35 last year.
• Assault: 19, compared to 27 last year.
Other areas are up from last year, but not by
much. Obscene phone calls are up four more
than last year and motor-vehicle thefts are up
three.
Only two areas, liquor and narcotics, have
increased dramatically.
Liquor violations, including minor in pos
session and driving while intoxicated, are up
by 20. Only four liquor violations were reported
last year at this time, but 24 already have been
reported in 19%.
Narcotics offenses also have increased. So
far in 19%, 25 narcotics violations have been
reported, compared to nine as of Sept 13,1995
and 17 in all of 1995.
Crime increases, Cauble said, are credited
largely to the nature of a university — many
new students arrive each year, making crime
prevention education a top priority.
But in times of increasing enrollment crime
has been going down —r a credit to the
department’s crime prevention education ef
forts. ■ ■ '-• /
nity service officers (CSOs) in 1993 and hard
wB»j u means sumeuiing is wonung nj
Cauble said.
educaliakprograms for
be addition of full-time
es UNLhas seen in the pa
could be the end result
Jfc ■ Below is a comparison of
w 11 III 6 camPus police crime reports,
Uqaor VMatioas ■ Through Sept 13,1995
4 k IMdiW
L« H Through Sept 13,199t
9A ■
Source: UNL Police Aaron Steckelberg/DN
work from the commissioned officers.
University Police Services employs 25 full
time commissioned officers and 13 CSOs. Sev
eral reviews of the university police have said
the department is understaffed. - /.
Student and faculty contact with officers has
increased considerably since the addition of the
CSOs, Cauble said, and patrol patterns also have
changed to stop many problems before they
happen.
But, be said, die changes should have taken
more time to show up in statistical analysis.
“I’m surprised it happened that fast,” Cauble
said. “Frankly, I’m surprised the decrease has 0
been that muck”
Hagel, Nelson
agree on little
in fiery debate
OMAHA (AP) - After a rowdy debate
filled with accusations, snide comments and
endless interruptions, the two candidates for
U.S. Senate couldn’t even agree upon a hand
shake Sunday.
Republican candidate Chuck Hagel and
Democratic Gov. Ben Nelson continued to
spar for several minutes after the debate, with
the governor hinging a handshake on a prom
ise.
Nelson said he would shake hands if
Hagel agreed to denounce third-party attack
ads. Hagel refused and demanded that
Nelson agree to a third debate.
“Governor, are you afraid of me?” Hagel
asked.
Eventually, Nelson offered his hand and
Hagel accepted for a lukewarm end to a fi
ery debate that came with no rules, no time
keepers and no opening or closing state
ments.
The debate was sponsored and mediated
by Omaha television station KMTV. It was
the second and final debate of the campaign.
Throughout the debate, Nelson ham
mered away at Hagel’s refusal to give spe
cifics on how he planned to cut 30 percent
from the U.S. Department of Education’s
budget and 25 percent from the Federal Avia
tion Administration, in light of recent plane
crashes.
When Nelson pulled out graphs, Hagel
called it a “cheap gimmick.”
“It’s really beneath the debate to pull that
trick at all,” Hagel said.
Hagel responded that Nelson stood for
the status quo, while he would look to priva
tize services as a way to reduce government
Nelson failed to honor a past campaign
promise to resolve the state’s property tax
problems, Hagel said, forcing taxpayers to
go through the petition process for tax re
lief.
Nelson responded that he had worked
with lawmakers to try and resolve the issue.
Nelson demanded to know how Hagel
stood on two property tax measures that will
be on the Nov. 6 ballot One is a plan that
would put lids on property taxes and the other
would guarantee Nebraskans the right to a
“quality education.”
Nelson opposes both Initiatives 411 and
413 because he said they would simply shift
taxes from one source to another and could
result in the largest tax increase in the state’s
history.
Hagel refused to publicly take a stand on
either measure.
Hagel also alleged that state spending had
increased 23 percent in the past five years
under Nelson’s watch.
Nelson said the increases were due to
uncontrollable costs, such as the rising ex
pense of housing prisoners. And the spend
ing growth, he said, was one-third the size
of increases in the five years prior to his term
when die GOP was in control.
The two anti-abortion candidates couldn’t
even come to terms on the abortion issue.
' ..•£ “ThereIs a difference between a pro-life
politician and a practicing pro-lifer,” Nelson
said, saying he has always been anti-abor
tion rights and implying that Hagel was a
Johnny-come-lately.
Hagel had originally opposed abortion,
z except in cases of rape, incest and when the /
I mother’s fife was in danger. He now says it
u should be illegal, except if the mother’s life
isindanger.
