Following two break-ins at campus dorms last weekend, University of Hawai'i-Manoa officials are considering hiring additional security guards and working with the state sheriff's office or Honolulu police to place a substation on campus or create their own campus police force.

"There are pros and cons for each of these models and we intend to talk to our campus constituents to find which is the best fit for our campus," said Kathy Cutshaw, vice chancellor for administration. "We feel that our campus is safe. Security is our highest priority and our No. 1 concern."

She acknowledged that no one model will be the cure-all for security needs.

This weekend's incidents — including one in which an 18-year-old female freshman was attacked in her room at Hale Aloha Mokihana — has UH students asking for reassurance that their campus is safe. Police have not made any arrests in the attacks.

University officials have responded by beefing up security around the residence halls — which include "seen and unseen" measures — and are also asking students to be extra cautious following this weekend's incidents.

But some community members and students are questioning whether existing security measures — which include a campus guard force of 36 — is enough.

"This is really scary with the freshman dorms. It's a big wake-up call, I think. How could this have happened?" asked Dr. Theresa Wee, president of the Parents and Friends of UH-Manoa.

Her group spent Thursday meeting with parents as they helped students move into the UH-Manoa dormitories. She said her group spent a great deal of time talking with parents and reassuring them that their children would be safe on campus.

"For the past two years, from the time we started our group in 2004, I thought things had been beefed up and things were looking much better," she said. "Here we were, just last week, telling parents things were looking good."

But now, Wee and students say they are again concerned about the state of security and are calling on UH officials to find ways to make campus safer.

LESS CRIME OVERALL

Despite the weekend crimes, overall crime at UH-Manoa has decreased 47 percent in the last three years, led by a 62 percent drop in burglaries.

Burglaries at UH-Manoa decreased from 77 in 2004 to 29 last year. Of the total number of burglaries, those occurring inside dorms decreased from 33 in 2004 to just 17 last year, according to data provided by UH to the federal government under the Cleary Act.

Total crimes, including forcible and nonforcible sexual assault, arson, robbery and aggravated assault, decreased from 96 offenses in 2004 to 46 last year.

No homicides or manslaughter incidents occurred any of the years.

Enacted in 1990, the Cleary Act is a federal mandate, which requires colleges and universities across the country to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses. It is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education.

Kathryn Xian, co-founder of the Rape Free Zone Coalition, pushed UH president David McClain for increased security two years ago following sex assaults on campus. She said the Cleary Act numbers are notoriously underreported and that the university needs to do more to follow up on a commitment by McClain to increase safety.

"Underreporting is a really big problem on all university campuses, not just UH," she said.

Following the weekend's break-ins and assault, officials took steps to beef up security around the dorms, said housing director Michael Kaptik.

In addition to increased security rounds at the residence halls, Kaptik said the university will be staffing the check-in desks at the four Hale Aloha freshman towers 24 hours a day and have issued crime alerts urging students to keep their dorms locked.

Kaptik also said the hall staff is urging residents to become familiar with their neighbors, so they can spot intruders.

"This is the first weekend, so students are coming in and out and may not be used to who is their neighbor and who is supposed to be in the building," he said.

The attack of a female resident of Mokihana hall was reported to police at 5:50 a.m. Sunday. The student told officials she awoke to find someone in her room who pushed a pair of scissors against her face. The intruder grabbed her and pushed her onto the bed but the victim screamed and fought, scaring off the attacker.

Bradley Kane, residential life coordinator at UH-Manoa, said the front desk of the tower was not staffed at that time.

"We are moving to 24/7 staffing of front desks following this incident," he said.

Students and visitors to the Hale Aloha freshman towers will be required to present identification upon entering the front door. Bradley also said that the entrances, elevators and rooms of the building can only be accessed by residents with keys.

Residents are being urged to not allow people who don't have a building key to "piggy back" into the hall, he said.

"We need to make sure residents aren't afraid to stop people at the door and say, 'I don't know you. Do you live here?'" he said.

THREE SECURITY OPTIONS

Even as the university beefs up the security presence in and around the dormitories, officials say they are also considering various options to change the nature of security on campus.

Cutshaw said the university has, for some time, been considering three different models for security. One proposal, the creation of a campus police force, has received attention since it was first proposed by McClain two years ago following a series of sexual assaults on campus.

The proposed police force at UH-Manoa would cost about $1.2 million to launch and would feature 17 new armed officers, according to a recent university-commissioned study.

The armed force would require the approval from state lawmakers and the UH Board of Regents. Kitty Lagareta, chairwoman of the regents, has said that she supports the idea.

Hiring additional security guards would cost $783,424 to implement, according to the university. It would cost $652,730 if the sheriff's office or HPD were to create a substation on campus.

"They've been talking about this since 2004," said Wee, from the university's parent group. She said she hopes this incident makes the university implement changes.

Xian, whose group pushed for increased security two years ago, said she is still disappointed with the state of campus security.

Two years ago McClain had set aside $1.4 million for added security, including new lighting, more security guards and increased training for the guards.

"I feel like there's been a lot of lip service to security, but I haven't seen any real changes implemented," Xian said.

GROUP'S REQUESTS

Among the changes her group asked for were 24-hour escorts around campus, increased security from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and immediate notification of HPD of assault or other incidents.

"From what I understand, HPD was notified for this last assault and we applaud that," she said.

Cutshaw said there have been significant changes to security over the past two years, one being increased training for the school's security guards. The university also added eight guards to its force this year.

The university's security guards are now required to participate in the same training that officers for the state sheriff's office participate in, she said.

"One of our bigger problems was teaching our security guards what to do," Cutshaw said.

Other changes include bike patrols; increased lighting, including parking areas; review of the student escort service with the goal of increasing services; and increased cooperation with the state sheriff's office and HPD.

Nicole Larson, a freshman dorm resident from Nevada, said after hearing about this weekend's break-ins that she was initially scared, but now feels relatively safe considering the security measures.

"Everywhere you look, there is a security guard visible. I feel like they're doing the best they can," she said.

She also said that to get into her Hale Aloha dorm room she must show her student ID at the front desk and that only dorm residents have keys to get through the front door and access the elevator.

"You need your key for everything," she said.

However, Crissy Imada, a dorm resident from California, said she is still shaken up.

"I'm a little afraid for my safety and I'm hoping they'll do more for our protection," she said.

UH declined to release details about security measures at each of the dormitories.

"It's not in the best interest of UH-Manoa campus security to publish the exact staffing and security procedures for each of our dormitories," said Gregg Takayama, campus communications director. "I think that by publishing such information, you would be providing a blueprint for anyone who had bad intentions on our campus."

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.