The 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report — known as the “Clery Report” — for Stevens was released this past Monday and describes reported crime statistics for 2018. All the reported crimes detailed in the Clery Report occurred either on the Stevens campus, in Stevens Leased Housing, public property around Stevens, certain non-campus buildings, and other forms of property belonging to Stevens.
Each year, this report must be released to the general public, in compliance with federal statutes under the Clery Act. Additionally, the report includes a statement at the beginning from Chief of Police Tim Griffin. Griffin laid out the measures that Stevens provides in order to ensure campus safety, such as the installation of close to 100 new security cameras and 30 new fire sensors during the 2018-2019 academic year.
According to the statistics provided in this report, the number of reported rapes has increased from two in 2016 to six in both 2017 and 2018. Excluding rape, sexual assault crimes have overall seen a decrease. For example, in the same three years, there were no reports of incest, one report of statutory rape in 2016, and six reports of fondling, all in 2016. Outside of sexual assault crimes, the number of reported burglaries has been two, six, and eleven over 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively. Furthermore, over the same three-year period, the number of reports of dating violence has increased from one in 2016 to five in both 2017 and 2018.
Despite all of this, the number of reported hate crimes has remained zero for those three years, as has the number of murders or negligent manslaughters, as well as reports of arson.
Furthermore, the report details the number of arrests and disciplinary actions over the same time period. Notably, the number of disciplinary actions taken in residence halls as a result of liquor law violations has steadily increased from 38 in 2016, to 44 in 2017, to 57 in 2018. On the other hand, the number of arrests in residence halls as a result of liquor law violations has been at zero for 2017 and 2018 from a high of four in 2016.
Some crimes have seen a consistent increase over these three years, which could be a result of better mechanisms in place for reporting such crimes. For instance, three new student affairs positions were created to handle student wellness, including a Director of Community Standards and Title IX Coordinator, who is currently Xhijola Ruci. According to Tim Griffin, “with these new staff members, Stevens offers significantly more student workshops and programs” that relate to Title IX coordination and Resident Assistant training. Moreover, other services have been upgraded to deal with these issues, such as the opening of a Student Wellness Center.
The Campus Police, in collaboration with the Fire Safety Officer and the Division of Facilities, strive to continually update their security features to the latest standards toward the overarching goal of making Stevens a safer place.
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