Report: campus crime has been on the decline

Crime on and around campus has shown a favorable decrease over the past year, according to a report released by the University on Tuesday.

The Johns Hopkins University 2006 Security Report was published in accordance with the Clery Act, which mandates that colleges and universities disclose their information about campus crime and security policies over the past three years before and Oct. 1 deadline.

The number of off-campus arrests and referrals for campus disciplinary action for liquor law violations increased, while all other statistics that were included in the report decreased or remained at zero.

In 2006 there were only two situations of motor vehicle thefts on-campus. There was also just one case of aggravated assault and three cases of burglary.

On a national level, Hopkins has ranked either equally to other comparable institutions or at a lower incident level.

"Colleges are not typically crime ridden communities - they are typically safer than the communities they are a part of," said Brett Soklow, the founder and president of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management, a consulting firm primarily concerned with student health and safety.

Soklow stated that campus safety depends on where a campus is located or whether it is a rural, urban or high-risk urban environment. However Soklow stated that larceny, the most common type of college-campus crime, is not required to be reported under the Clery Act. What is required to be reported is not necessarily codified; for instance underage drinking violations are required, while instances of public intoxication are not.

"The numbers [for robbery, burglary, and forcible sexual assault] seem rather low ... the alcohol citations seem about right. The way that the Clery Act works, it requires data from all employees on campus, R.As, [and] coaches. They might not report everything to security, [which] could create a gap," Soklow said.

Incidents that are not reported to campus security, therefore are not factored into the compilation of the security report's statistics; more crimes could have been committed, but since they have not been reported there is no way to know for sure.

Hopkins' security has taken multiple proactive steps to continue reducing instances of crime on campus. To help with the accuracy of records, Hopkins security maintains a daily crime log and issues alerts whenever violent crimes occur in or around the Homewood campus.

Additional steps have been taken on campus over the past several years, such as the establishment of safe shuttle services, walking escorts and security awareness seminars, posters and presentations to incoming freshmen.

"The past couple of years have had a decrease in crimes reported under the Clery Act, and crimes not under the Clery Act have diminished as well. We believe the decline is due to the measures the university has taken ... the significant expansion of the university blue-light/telephone network, many more people on patrol - all of the measures we have taken to help create a safer environment for our students, faculty and staff," said Dennis O'Shea, director of Communications and Public Affairs.

Officials from Security were unavailable for comment.

The Clery Act was named for Lehigh University freshman student Jeanne Clery, who was discovered raped and murdered in her dorm room in 1986. The disclosure is an amendment to the 1965 Higher Education Act. Under this amendment, Hopkins is required to report crimes that occur on campus, in off-campus buildings affiliated with the university and in the neighborhoods adjacent to university property.