Number of reported crimes increased by 38 percent between 2013 and 2014

There were 77 crimes reported on the University's main campus in 2014, an increase from 56 crimes reported in 2013, according to the 2014 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report released Wednesday.

The increase was mainly caused by an uptick in the number of motor vehicle thefts reported – there were 16 motor vehicle thefts reported in 2014, compared with four in 2013 and one in 2012. Twelve golf carts were reported stolen, and all were recovered.

The Department of Public Safety deferred comment to University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua.

Mbugua noted that the report's text is updated annually.

"This year there were changes made in line with new guidance and policies surrounding theViolence Against Women Actrequirements. There is a section that was updated with language from Rights, Rules, Responsibilities about Title IX complaints," he said, adding that the fire safety section also changed.

Burglaries, which rose substantially from 28 to 41 between 2012 and 2013, went back down to 34 in 2014.

Eight instances of rape were reported to University officialsin 2014, a slight increase compared to the six instances reported in 2013. Twenty-eight sexual offenses, two domestic violence offenses, one dating violence offense and five stalking incidents were reported to confidential counselors in 2014, the report said.

There were also five fondling incidents reported in 2014, compared to none in 2013. The University community was alerted of two fondling events via emailon Sept. 17 and Sept. 20 of this year.

Mbugua said the University community did not receive email alerts about the 2014 fondling incidents becausethree were reported by theCampus Security Authorities, where the victim did not want to file a criminal complaint and the incidents were handled administratively,while the other two reports came from domestic locations off-campus.

In the report, rape, fondling, incest and sodomy count as subsets of sexual assault.

Due to changes made in 2014 to the Clery Act, which governs the reporting of crime statistics on college campuses receiving federal financial aid, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and hate crimes are now categories included in the report. Sexual assault and violence previously fell under the categories of forcible and non-forcible sex offenses.

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The report defines sexual assault as “any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent,” and fondling as “the touching of the private parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim.”

The report also distinguishes between sexual assault as a second degree crime and aggravated sexual assault as a first degree crime.

There was one instance of arson reported and zero instances of criminal homicide, incest, sodomy or dating violence.

The report also contains the number of arrests and judicial referrals, split into three categories: liquor law violations, drug abuse violations and illegal weapons possession. Each of these categories is further divided into arrests and judicial referrals.

A judicial referral refers to a student who was taken through the University’s judicial process but not necessarily arrested, while an arrest involves a student being taken into custody under specific charges.

The number of judicial referrals for liquor law violations jumped from 28 in 2012 and 36 in 2013 to 129 in 2014, while the number of arrests for liquor law violations jumped from two in 2013 to 12 in 2014.

"The liquor law violations are counted by individuals not by incidents," Mbugua explained. "There were several incidents this year where large numbers of students were referred to the judicial proccess at one time from single incidents."

The report notes that referrals to the deans are counted by persons and do not necessarily reflect the number of incidents.

There were 12 drug abuse violation arrests in 2013 and 18 in 2014, while the number of judicial referrals for such violations stayed similar, only jumping from 27 to 28. There were no arrests for illegal weapons possession in 2014.

The University reported six fires in 2014, with no injuries or deaths and only minor property damage. Five fires happened in undergraduate buildings and one in graduate buildings. All fires were reported as “unintentional” except for one which involved lighting a cardboard box on fire.

In contrast, 2013 and 2012 each saw four fires.

Items such as candles, incense and flammable or combustible liquids are banned from University residence halls, and smoking is prohibited in all residential buildings and outdoor spaces within 25 feet of said buildings.

The report noted that the new Lakeside Graduate Housing Complex includes fire suppression systems, fire detection systems and fire extinguishers. The report added that fire safety training offerings will be added on Blackboard this coming year, and Fire Safety and Fire Extinguisher training are now being offered multiple times a semester.