From stolen road construction barrels on Commonwealth Avenue to the multiple reported Bay State Road break-ins, Boston University has seen an increase in “crimes of opportunity” this year, but BU police said these crimes have led to several positive arrests.

CONNECTED CRIME

Police said they have arrested the man who they believe robbed and indecently assaulted a woman near West Campus on March 30. The suspect may also have been the assailant in five similar reported attacks occurring over the past two months, BU Police Department Sgt. Jack St. Hilaire said.

The reported attacks remain under investigation, but no robberies have been reported in the area since a multi-agency task force consisting of BU, Boston and Brookline police departments made an arrest earlier this month, St. Hilaire said.

“It looks like [the arrest] was successful,” he said.

Police said they thought the March 30 reported robbery and assault on Crowninshield Road was linked to five other reported attacks in the area, including three near West Campus on March 8, Brookline Police Department Capt. John O’Leary told The Daily Free Press earlier this month. Alleged victims gave similar descriptions of their assailants, and all reported that the incidents happened between about 1 and 3 a.m., St. Hilaire said.

A LOOK AT THE LOGS

In 2007, one robbery was reported to BUPD, but since January there have been five reported robberies, constituting an insignificant increase in crimes on or around campus, St. Hilaire said.

A male student reported he was robbed at knifepoint around 11 p.m. April 5, St. Hilaire said. Another student said he was forced into a car and robbed at knifepoint at the intersection of Buswell Street and Park Drive at about 10:30 p.m. Feb. 19, according to BUPD crime logs. The night before, Feb. 18, a female student reported a robbery-in- progress at the French House after she woke up at about 4 a.m. to find a male intruder in her room. The intruder fled after the student screamed, according to BUPD crime logs.

The French House break-in is still under investigation, and there have been no leads in the case, St. Hilaire said.

BUPD records show 28 assaults were reported in 2007, St. Hilaire said. Since January, two aggravated assaults and eight other assaults have been reported. There has been no significant change in assault statistics for the last several years, and the numbers remain relatively low considering BU’s campus population of more than 40,000, he said.

Overall, campus thefts and burglaries have decreased by 56 percent this semester, St. Hilaire said.

THE BU BANDIT

BUPD arrested Michael Ford on Jan. 23 after he was seen looking at unattended bags in the College of Fine Arts, according to a statement from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Ford was charged with receiving stolen property, larceny, identity fraud, drug possession, furnishing a false name and trespassing at a Jan. 24 arraignment, and BUPD had named him a suspect following a Jan. 24, 2007 incident. The reported incident involved a man using a stolen debit card to withdraw $700 from an ATM near university property, according to a statement on the BUPD’s website.

Ford appeared in Brighton District Court March 31, and was scheduled for a later appearance, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

BU officials have said the case is an example of successful on-campus theft reduction, and called the arrest the result of cooperation between law enforcement agencies.

CLAFLIN HALL ASSAULTS

On the morning of Jan. 20, two non-BU male students entered two female residents’ unlocked rooms in Claflin Hall, after a resident who did not know them signed them into the building in direct violation of the university’s guest policy. One of the students, Daniel Glaser, a Lehigh University junior, was initially charged with indecent assault and battery of the female residents, and both men faced multiple felony charges, including breaking and entering at nighttime and unarmed burglary.

The charges for Glaser and Aaron Goodliss, a Johnson ‘ Wales University junior who accompanied him, were later reduced to misdemeanors or dismissed entirely. Both received community service and probation in lieu of a full trial after admitting to incident facts in court.

An unrelated sexual assault was reported at Warren Towers last semester. A female visitor to BU reported she was attacked in the 16th floor communal bathroom of Shields Tower at 3:30 a.m. Sept. 30.

St. Hilaire said BUPD has had no additional leads in the case, and a check of the videotape system in the building did not produce a suspect.

The reported assaults in Warren and Claflin were “isolated incidents,” St. Hilaire said. The residence halls are safe, but students should continue to “practice common sense,” he said.

“Students should treat the residence halls like they would an apartment complex,” St. Hilaire said.

STUDENT CONCERNS

Some students said news of the reported robberies and assaults on and around campus prompted them to take extra safety precautions this semester. Ilana Cloud, a College of Fine Arts freshman who lives in Claflin, said she and her roommate have locked their door every night since the Claflin incident.

That is the kind of change St. Hilaire said he hopes students will make when they hear about campus crimes. Students should lock their doors and windows, avoid leaving their property unattended, call BUPD if they see someone suspicious on campus and avoid walking home alone at night, he said.

“We want students to be more aware, and we’re hoping they will change their practices so they don’t put themselves in dangerous situations,” St. Hilaire said.

PARTY HARDY

Alcohol plays a major role in many campus crimes because it alters people’s awareness levels and makes them more vulnerable, St. Hilaire said. Glaser, the student who entered Claflin Jan. 20, told the Free Press in March that drinking played a role in his actions the night of the incident.

Alcohol violations have increased by 25 percent this semester, St. Hilaire said.

John McCardell, former Middlebury College president and founder of Choose Responsibility, a grassroots group that pushes for discussion of the legal minimum drinking age, brought his message to administrators in a presentation earlier this semester.

McCardell said his nonprofit organization does not formally lobby or receive funding from the alcohol industry, but he and his small staff travel to raise awareness about the culture surrounding American alcohol consumption.

“Alcohol violations are hard to fight, because drinking is a cultural norm,” St. Hilaire said. “How do you fight a cultural norm?”

“Criminals are looking for the easiest targets,” St. Hilaire said, referring to intoxicated crime victims. “The No. 1 way to eliminate crime is to eliminate the opportunities to commit crime.”

EDUCATION PREVENTION

St. Hilaire said aggressive police patrolling, crime analysis and education about safety helped reduce some crimes on campus this semester.

For example, most thefts on campus used to occur at CFA, St. Hilaire said. BUPD used an analysis to identify criminal patterns and causes and found that many CFA students left their bags unattended in empty classrooms while they practiced their instruments.

BUPD told students and professors about ways to secure their belongings in the building and, since then, thefts in CFA have sharply decreased, St. Hilaire said. Last year there were 19 reported thefts in the building, but since January there have been three reported thefts, he said.

West Campus resident Cloud said her floor’s resident assistant did not talk to students about campus safety after the March 8 and March 30 reported attacks near West Campus.

“I really don’t feel like there’s a lot of connection between the police and school officials,” Cloud said. “I think they should reach out more to students.”

Matt Covello, a School of Management freshman who also lives in Claflin, said he feels safe on campus despite this semester’s increase in robberies.

“A lot of it is just common sense, like not going anywhere alone late at night,” Covello said.

Preventing campus crime should be a joint effort between the police and students, St. Hilaire said.

“The police can’t do it alone,” St. Hilaire said. “We all share the responsibility.”