Nov. 3, 2014
Eleanor Skelton
[email protected]
Petty theft may have decreased on campus in the last year, but sex offenses increased.
Public safety released its Annual Security Report at the beginning of October, and the UCCS Communique announced the statistics on Oct. 1.
“The number of reported thefts, alcohol violations, and drug related offenses were all down from previous years,” Philip Denman wrote. Later, the article said, “the number of sexual assaults and on-campus burglaries increased.”
“The report shows an increase in sexual assaults and burglaries but doesn’t always take into account when and where the events actually occurred,” McPike said in the Communique article. “With the continuous campus growth we’ve also seen a marked increase in the number of calls for service our police officers are responding to.”
Here is a summary of the information released in each of the last five years’ Annual Security Reports. Each year noted was recorded in the following years’ report.
2009: one aggravated assault, 11 burglaries, 51 thefts, one motor vehicle theft.
2010: one sex offence, one aggravated assault, one burglary, 72 thefts, one motor vehicle theft.
2011: one sex offence (revealed in 2013 due to external audit), one burglary, 74 thefts, one motor vehicle theft.
2012: three burglaries, 64 thefts, three motor vehicle thefts.
2013: three sex offences (one from 2012 not reported until 2013), one aggravated assault, six burglaries, 46 thefts, two motor vehicle thefts.
Editor’s note: The 2013 report features a new section due to the Violence Against Women Act of 2013, which additionally mentions one incident of dating violence and one incident of stalking.
The Kraemer Family Library again this year emphasized to students via Commode Chronicles and the library website to not leave belongings unattended, although Dean Teri Switzer said the library has not noted a recent change in theft, either increase or decrease.
“Around three years ago, it seems a student had a laptop stolen and one of our own staff had her wallet stolen from her office while at a meeting,” Switzer said in an email.
“Those are the only thefts I recall. We are very fortunate that there is very little theft in the Library. I think that is a testament to the students on our campus.”
The library does ban certain behaviors, however.
“We have, on occasion, called Public Safety to report unacceptable behavior, such as bathing in the bathrooms, sleeping in the bathrooms, and harassment of our student assistants,” Switzer said. “However, this has been infrequent and has been handled immediately.”
In addition, the SaVE Act, which makes faculty and staff mandatory reporters, went into effect this school year and will not be accounted for until next year’s report.