berkeley-crime//sahilchinoy
As a resident of Unit 1, I'm always surprised as to how prevalent crime in the UC Berkeley area seems to be. I feel like I'm always hearing about a crazy assault, or spotting a new crime report plastered on the wall of the lobby, or being warned not to go walking late at night. There's no doubt that Berkeley has crime, and that indeed it isn't a good idea to take midnight strolls, but I wanted to know just how much crime really occurs, and more importantly, I wanted to figure out if there were any trends that might make staying safe at Cal a little easier.
I started my investigation on UCPD's website, where they have crime alerts archived for the last four years. Combing through all the alerts was interesting, to say the least — apparently, a girl was shot with an arrow in March 2013 — but it wasn't easy to pick out any trends, besides the fact that there's a lot of crime at People's Park.
This website is a culmination of about a week's worth of investigation and analysis on those crime alerts. I've tackled questions such as the most dangerous time to be out and the most dangerous areas of campus to be at particular times, information that I hope will help UC Berkeley students stay safer.
Of course, no amount of data or analysis is a substitute for common sense. You've heard it before, but it's worth repeating — don't walk alone late at night, don't walk around with your expensive cell phone out, and take advantage of services like BearWalk.
This website is a work in progress. I intend to add information about 2014 crime alerts and further analysis, so if you have any comments or suggestions, please get in touch with me.