USC’s west side is neglected story
Everything I need to know about self defense I learned from a dog-eared copy of The Outsiders.
Hye You | Daily Trojan
The last time I read that rumble-filled chronicle of teenage angst was in grade school, but I still remember a passage in which one of the many poorly named characters fends off an oncoming gang with a broken soda bottle.
When I moved to the west side of campus my junior year, that passage inspired me to walk around with an empty Perrier bottle in my pocket for a few months — I had received dire warnings from multiple people that the west side of campus was dicey.
I stopped carrying the bottle around when I realized my life wasn’t West Side Story, and that — like in most areas surrounding USC — if you don’t venture out by yourself at 3 a.m., you should be fine.
But you don’t need to encounter roving members of the Jets to realize that the area west of Vermont Avenue doesn’t enjoy as heavy of a university security presence as the rest of campus. For that, the community suffers.
The Department of Public Safety has done a commendable job of reducing crime on and off campus in the last few years.
The department’s annual security report released in September showed a sizable drop in reported incidents between 2007 and 2009. On-campus robberies, for example, plummeted from 20 reported incidents in 2007 to only one last year. The number of off-campus burglaries also dropped.
Another feather in DPS’ cap has been the deployment of Contemporary Services Corporation officers in North University Park last year; the yellow jackets act as a crime deterrent and their presence calms students late at night.
Though DPS has taken great strides to make North University Park a safer area, it now needs to turn its attention west of Vermont.
DPS Capt. David Carlisle explained that most students live north of campus, so DPS places the majority of its resources there.
“USC doesn’t own student housing west of Vermont,” he said. “We wanted to best utilize our resources where the students are most likely to be. We analyzed that area based on student foot traffic patterns, student housing and also where crimes have occurred.”
Carlisle also noted that recently more students have been moving west of campus in search of affordable housing, or, in my case, proximity to a Taco Bell.
Because of this, DPS patrols all areas surrounding campus. At this juncture, however, CSC personnel remain stolidly to the north.
It’s time for DPS to re-evaluate its use of yellow jackets. USC is still transitioning from a commuter to a residential school; thus, students will continue to require housing. This will only push higher numbers to the west side.
Though the majority of students do live elsewhere, there is still a substantial student population in this area.
In fact, those same yellow jackets would be an asset to non-USC affiliated residents as well; the entire community could reap the benefits of additional security.
The area around USC has made vast improvements. But it’s time for DPS to take the next step and acknowledge the Westside residents.
Lucy Mueller is a senior majoring in cinema-television production and a managing editor of the Daily Trojan. Her column, “Everything is Copy,” runs Mondays.
Yo, When I lived in the hood outside USC, I never got robbed because I was strategic with my Shizzle. Here are some tips that helped me:
1) If you are walking far into native territory, wear low key or baggy clothes. Many gangsters wear such clothes because it is easy to conceal a weapon, and thus they will be more cautious if you are wearing the same (see the teach the dougie rap video). If tight jeans or skimpy dresses are worn, thugs are less worried because they can easily see that you pose no threat, and that you may be in estrous.
2) Avoid wearing gangster apparel or walking with a gangster attitude. Wearing too much blue or red will prompt challenges from gang members, as will a gangster-like arrogance that will prompt local thugs to test that attitude. A track member may have been shot for this reason a few years ago.
3) Trust your instincts and manipulate the instincts of others. If you think people are sizing you up, they probably are. Years of evolution have sharpened your perception, so you should trust it unless you are reallllly high. But like you, the local thugs also have instincts, and they can be fun to play with. One way of doing this would be to act in a way that an undercover policeman might, which would cause the thugs to abandon their criminal maneuvers. How do you do this? You could wear an ear piece or head phone in one ear, and pretend to talk into your wrist or a hidden microphone in you collar. If you are good at imitation or kinetic aping, walk with that stern and steady body language that most cops have while on duty. You can also flash discreet signs to others that appear to be some cop code. This could be touching your nose twice in a pronounced movement or coughing 3 times in an odd manner. Note: Never say that you are a cop. That is illegal and could get you into more trouble then getting fondled by young hoods. The goal here is to make a half-wit thug think they outwitted the cops and abandon their criminal venture before it started. I have done this many times, and funny has it is to picture someone doing these things, it always works for me, though if you look really un cop like (say, if you had Justin Bieber hair) and have no theatrical talent then you probably should avoid this tip.
4) Carry a fake wallet. Get a cheapo wallet from the 99 Cents store and load it up with those fake credit card offers you get in the mail, and various other crap to make it look used. Make sure no information that can be traced back to you is in there. Sprinkle in some random business cards and 3 bucks, and you have something to toss if you get robbed. When the thugs go after the wallet you should start yelling and running away or prepare to engage if you are cornered and have the means to defend yourself and legally validate your actions in court.
Well, I hope these tactics help, but it is always best to avoid confrontation and call for help so that DPS can do their duty when things get crazy.
as somebody who lived over there it would have been nice to see yellow jackets and DPS more often. even in daylight i was approached by a suspicious person. it was scary. i have lived west and north of campus and it was like day and night. granted both areas are not “safe”, you still feel a lot more comfortable north of campus.
rule of thumb: when the sun goes down get your car!
Listen, regardless of whether you reside to the north of campus (everything south of the 10 FWY and maybe a couple streets north of Adams), you got to realize you’re in the nine-triple-zero-seven. You gotta be on your toes. This ain’t nine-oh-two-one-oh. SC’s in the ‘hood, and there ain’t denying that. Gentrification = BS. It’s an urban area, and it ain’t south Orange County or the real Westside, like the one our “beloved” neighbors are located at.
Don’t trip, be cool, don’t floss your expensive gear i.e. iPods, iPhones, etc. while walking alone at night, or by your lonesome…because DPS can only do so much.
I think you’ve got the bottom line down. In my three years here I’ve yet to run into trouble, mainly because I never asked for it. I know people, however, who have not been so lucky, and while none of those people have any real horror stories to speak of, they’ve been intimidated before. The question is, “Did they deserve it?”
Well, you tell me if using an iPad while obnoxiously laughing at a public bus stop is “low key”.
I don’t think that DPS should put CSC staff over there, at least not yet. The area north of campus is a lot more densly populated with more apartment buildings and students than west of campus.
I think the first steps for west of campus would be to:
1. Increase the amount of street lighting. I believe USC puts money forward to improve the street lighting north of campus and it has been built up for some time. The lighting is much more closely spaced than on other streets, because of this it safer to put CSC security in the area.
2. Increase use of video surveillance. DPS has been adding security cameras to street light poles and USC housing in the north portions. While they still are doing this they should add cameras to the west side also. There have been a number of crimes committed on Vermont (it seems everytime we get a trojan alert e-mail or text its on Vermont).
3. Begin using DPS officers on the chariots and bike officers in that area on random patrols.
I think they’re should be an improvement, but that it needs to be done in small steps just like it has been done on the north side for some time now.