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Stevens releases 2022 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report

On September 30, Stevens released its 2022 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report detailing statistics for 2019 to 2021 related to crimes occurring on or near Stevens-owned property and disciplinary statistics. The report is created by the Stevens Campus Police and available to all students, faculty, and staff. 

The report starts off with a message from the Stevens Chief of Police, Timothy J. Griffin. Griffin states that the campus police’s “approach to providing campus safety and security is one of community policing and partnership building within the Stevens community and with [its] host city.” He also reveals that the school is focusing on its emergency management operations to best prepare for a serious or continuing threat. The message includes some statistics on the Stevens police force, which includes 19 armed police officers who are fully certified by the New Jersey Police Training Commission and have full police powers within the state of New Jersey. The Stevens police force also includes two dispatchers, all of whom are trained to respond to a variety of emergency situations. Further along in the report, the Stevens Campus Police stated that their mission and core values are pride, duty, and professionalism.

To start, the report stated the rules and emergency procedures, and it outlined disciplinary routes if rules are broken on campus. They reported on the Stevens’ Emergency Response Plan (ERP) and how it is being maintained by annual evacuation tests in every campus building as well as training an emergency management team (EMT) which consists of staff members outside of the Police Department “with expertise in responding to emergency situations and trained first responders.”

16 pages of the report are dedicated to the Stevens Title IX Policy, a nationally required program enforced by the United States Department of Education. The policy establishes rules and procedures that must be enforced in cases of “allegations of Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, [and/or] Stalking and Retaliation.” The report provided the contact information for Stevens Title  IX Coordinator, Xhiljola Ruci Kluger, as well as the two Deputy Title IX Coordinators, Stacy Flowers Fisher and Maria Sinaileen Ouckama. Anyone who experiences discrimination or harassment on the basis of gender or any kind of sexual assault should reach out to the people and resources provided. 

The report included a detailed synopsis of crime and fire incidents occurring on campus, public property adjacent to campus, and off-campus housing locations within one mile of campus. The statistics show a small decrease in crimes between 2019 to 2021, with 2021 showing no burglary, aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft, or dating violence. Each previous year contained between one to four incidents of each crime. Notably, of all disciplinary actions taken within the three year period, none come close to the number of liquor law violations, with 58 disciplinary actions taken in 2019 and 37 taken in 2021. However, only one arrest was made over the three years for liquor law violations.

The annual fire statistics showed a positive trend with no fires occurring in student housing in 2020 and 2021. This is an improvement from 2019 when at least one fire occurred in every on-campus housing location except for Palmer Hall, Castle Point Hall, and the Lore-El Center. In order to maintain fire safety, the report lays out the list of prohibited items for on-campus housing, including but not limited to Christmas trees, large accumulations of paper, candles, and explosives.

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