2021 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report released, new data shows decrease in crime

Katya Melchor, Staff Writer|October 15, 2021

Figure 1 is based on the Clery Criminal Offense statistics reported for Main Campus. These offenses include rape, fondling, robbery, aggravated assault burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson. The blue indicates on-campus facilities while red represents student housing. A notable change in offenses is burglary, with six incidents reported in 2018, nine reported in 2019 and two reported in 2020. The sudden decrease in burglary reports is likely due to COVID-19 impacting on-campus living.

Figure 1 is based on the Clery Criminal Offense statistics reported for Main Campus. These offenses include rape, fondling, robbery, aggravated assault burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson. The blue indicates on-campus facilities while red represents student housing. A notable change in offenses is burglary, with six incidents reported in 2018, nine reported in 2019 and two reported in 2020. The sudden decrease in burglary reports is likely due to COVID-19 impacting on-campus living.

The 2021 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report was published Thursday, Sept. 30 . The report covers the crimes reported over a period of three years, starting from 2018 to 2020. In compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act, the university’s police department created this report in cooperation with the Office of Campus Safety, Division of Student Affairs, Office of Human Resources and law enforcement surrounding the campus (Main Campus and Wild Basin Creative Research Center). 

Figure 2 shows the VAWA offenses for Main Campus. This particular graph shows reports of dating violence and stalking, specifically. For stalking, there is a noticeable increase from 2018 to 2019 and then a large decrease from 2019 to 2020.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses. Compliance is monitored by the United States Department of Education. 

Figure 3 shows arrest and disciplinary referrals for Main Campus. This graph shows incidents of weapons possessions, drug abuse and liquor law violations. In 2018, there were 67 reported disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations that slowly decreased from 2019 to 2020. In 2018, there were three reported disciplinary referrals for drug abuse off-campus. Aside from those three reports, there are no other reports of off-campus disciplinary referrals.

Part of the report mentions locations of emergency boxes around campus, the Topper Safe Mobile App and information on how to report an incident voluntarily and confidentially. The section goes into detail of how the University Police, Health & Counseling Center, Human Resources Office and the Dean of Students Office accepts these reports and takes measures to ensure the safety of those who file these confidential reports. According to the report, “the university can keep an accurate record of the number of incidents involving community members and alert the campus community of potential threats. It is the university’s goal to provide assistance wherever the report is made and to include the crime in our annual security report.”

On pages 93 to 96 of the annual report are the statistics of various crimes reported on Main Campus or at Wild Basin. Below are graphs based on the reports from these statistics. 

In the report itself, The Chief of the University Police Department his designee will prepare and submit data to the United States Department of Education by Oct. 1 that is outlined in the act. Crime data for the main campus is obtained from St. Edward’s University Police Department and requested from the City of Austin Police Department. The crime data for the Wild Basin Creative Research Center is requested from the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. A copy of the crime report can be obtained via the University Police Department’s website.