In an effort to improve neighborhood safety in the area just south of campus, UC Berkeley has launched a multi-faceted security campaign.

The $350,000 effort includes deploying additional UC Berkeley police officers to the Southside, expanding escort services, improving lighting, and installing additional UC emergency telephones in the area.

Preliminary figures show that robberies in the south campus area increased by 59 percent in 1998 over 1997 and 115 percent over 1996, despite a decline in violent crime in the city of Berkeley as a whole.

"We are taking a number of steps that, in partnership with the city of Berkeley, will make the area a safer place," said Chancellor Berdahl when he announced the campaign in January.

The campaign includes:

• Deploying four additional UC Berkeley police officers to the Telegraph Avenue/south campus area.
• Increasing UC Berkeley police patrol of campus area parking lots during nights and weekends.
• Increasing the number of UC Berkeley Community Service Officers who escort individuals to their cars or nearby homes in the evening.
• Adding two UC Berkeley police vans to provide door-to-door escort service for students who do not live in university housing. The vans will run between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.
• Launching a marketing and advertising campaign that informs the public of the new safety efforts and puts criminals on notice.
• Placing emergency phones in areas of particular concern.
• Trimming trees and foliage in key areas to ensure that criminal activity will not be hidden from view.
• Improving lighting along pedestrian walkways.
• Increasing police surveillance at People's Park and making environmental improvements at the park, including increased lighting and tree trimming.