The University of Arizona had the highest auto theft rate and the second-highest property-crime rate last year among the nation's 100 largest campuses, according to the FBI's uniform crime report.
While the UA Police Department acknowledges that property crime on campus is a problem, the actual number of incidents has decreased since 2002.
The decrease in property crime over the four-year period has been credited to a number of crime-prevention programs and educational opportunities, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a UAPD spokesman.
"We do have a problem, but we've tried to address it through a multitude of programs and by speaking with students, their parents and staff every opportunity we get," he said.
However, the university's efforts will not succeed unless all take responsibility for their property and report suspicious activity to police, he said.
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In 2005, there were 30.9 property crimes per 1,000 students at the UA, according to the FBI. UCLA came in first with 31.5 and the University of New Mexico rounded out the top three with 30.4. Arizona State University ranked fifth in the nation with 27.6 property crimes per 1,000 students.
The UA property-crime rate includes the highest number of auto thefts — 105 — among the biggest campuses. That's 2.8 thefts per 1,000 students.
Property crimes also include burglary, larceny, arson and other thefts.
"When you look at the rankings, you need to take into consideration all of the other factors that could influence that result," Mejia said.
The FBI advises that caution should be exercised when comparing campuses or ranking schools because statistics are affected by a variety of factors.
Those factors include demographic characteristics of the surrounding community, ratio of male to female students, number of on-campus residents, accessibility of outside visitors, size of enrollment and so on.
Mejia added that the enrollment figure used by the FBI is old.
But a calculation by the Arizona Daily Star using 2005 enrollment numbers showed a decrease of only 0.3 percent than resulted from using the 2004 enrollment number.
The UA ranked 39th for its violent-crime rate last year, while Arizona State University came in 10th.
The University of Maryland's College Park campus was first in the nation.
Like property crime, violent crime reached its lowest point last year, a 46 percent decline from 2002.
Crime at the UA
● Number of reported violent crimes (murder, negligent manslaughter, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, aggravated assault and robbery)
26 23
2002 2003
28 14
2004 2005
● Number of reported property crimes (arson, burglary, theft — including bicycles — and auto theft)
1,414 1,238
2002 2003
1,273 1,113
2004 2005
Source: University of Arizona Police Department
