Cerritos College Police Chief Tom Gallivan presented the 2019 crime statistics in his general campus safety report to the Board of Trustees, stating that “theft of unattended property continues to be the major type of crime reported to campus police.”
In his presentation on Jan. 15, Gallivan provided the end of year statistics for crimes investigated by campus police. He highlighted bike thefts, car thefts and break-ins, and unattended items in classrooms, bathrooms, and lockers.
Petty theft was the biggest criminal issue on Cerritos’ campus, with 27 reported incidents. Reported bike thefts, 11, was the second most reported crime of 2019. This is also, according to Gallivan, “our most unreported crime.”
Six reports of vehicular burglary, five reports of grand theft, and four reported burglaries took up the rear. Eight incidents of vandalism were also reported.
Chief Gallivan also claimed that stolen vehicle reports have “gone down to about three” in 2019.
Crimes against persons “are few and far between” according to Gallivan, as Cerritos College Police saw few reported incidents. A few of the reported cases originated off campus and simply moved onto campus.
Six assault and batteries were reported, with “the majority of those crimes known by the victim” and “minor in nature.” Two cases of robbery were reported but were minor in nature and neither originated on the Cerritos campus.
One case of assault with a deadly weapon involved a male in the female locker room hitting his pursuer in the back with a skateboard, with no serious injuries occurring.
Two cases of criminal threats and one case of domestic violence were reported.
The most infamous and notable crimes that occurred at Cerritos College in 2019 was the bomb threat and graffiti bomb threat.
Gallivan and the campus police department have a few strategies in place to deter crime and keep the campus safe.
Most obvious to the naked eye are the “high visibility foot patrols” of the inner campus by officers and “high visibility” patrolling of campus parking lots by marked police cars.
The department also step up their patrols at night, around 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., with marked parking enforcement vehicles riding through parking lots and officers stationed at campus exit points for night class students.
Police dispatchers also monitor the emergency blue light towers surveillance cameras. Gallivan “[had to] brag” about campus dispatchers’ role in spotting and detaining attempted robbers on campus during the 2019 winter break.
Chief Gallivan and the Cerritos College Police Department post their crime log online for students and faculty to keep up to date with the status of campus safety. They also provide resources for students requiring night time escorts and general safety tips.
