The San Diego State University Police Department released the Campus Safety and Security report and the Annual Fire Safety report for 2015 on Tuesday, Feb. 9.
At the bottom of the safety report is the table of crimes reported by the SDSU Police Department. It totals the numbers for 2012 through 2014.
Between 2013 and 2014, the number of sexual offenses jumped from eight to 24. Fifteen of those offenses were on campus.
The sections addressing the investigations of sexual violence and the consequences have been largely expanded in this year’s report. While the 2014 report totaled 34 pages, this year’s report is 44 pages with several expanded sections.
Among the changes was an added section titled “Campus Investigations of Reports of Sexual Violence,” which details the university’s formal written procedures for investigating reports. The section lays out which complaint procedures should be followed in different circumstances, and how the investigation process will proceed for both the person being charged and the complainant.
Further down, a section titled “Campus, Civil and Criminal Consequences of Committing Acts of Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence” explains the various actions that may be taken if the accused person is found guilty.
The 2015 report also features expanded definitions of various crimes. Where the 2014 report features the number of incidents on campus, it does not provide a definition of each crime.
For instance, the report explains the difference between domestic violence and dating violence, which are two separate crimes. It also explains that an incident can fall into more than one category.
“For example, a subject assaults a victim, which is a crime. If the facts of the case indicate that the offender was motivated to commit the offense because of his bias against the victim’s race, sexual orientation, etc…, the assault is then also classified as a hate/bias crime,” reads the report.
Similar examples are given in the dating violence and domestic violence definitions.
Also notable is the fact that the number of arrests for liquor law violations, drug violations, and weapons violations all dropped between 2013 and 2014.
The disciplinary referrals that did not result in an arrest for liquor law violations also dropped.
However, as the report notes, “In 2014 the San Diego District Attorney and the San Diego City Attorney determined that California’s liquor laws related to underage possession and consumption of alcohol did not apply to private residences including University Resident Halls, fraternities and Sororities,” which may be the cause for the lowered numbers.
Nursing sophomore Hannah Gaharan said she thinks SDSU is a safe campus. She reads the community safety alerts that are emailed to students in the event of an incident that warrants public notification.
“I have read them before, but I feel like I haven’t read any recently,” she said. “Most of the crimes that I’ve heard about happen at night when a girl is walking by herself or something of that nature so normally when I do go to the library late or walk back late, I generally try to have someone with me. … I do feel safe here. I’ve never had any experience to make me feel otherwise.”
The Safety and Security report and the Fire Safety report are published in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act. The reports are available via the SDSUPD website.
