The University of Arizona published the 2023 Annual Safety and Fire Safety Report last month, retailer campus crime statistics, ongoing efforts to increase campus safety, and resources available on campus, among others.
THE Jeanne Cléry lawwhich makes it necessary to publish this ASR, “requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data, support victims of violence, and publicly outline policies and procedures they have in place to improve campus safety.»
The AU ASR, developed by the AU Compliance Office and other partners, includes statistics from the past three years on reported crimes that took place on the AU campus and at various university-owned off-campus properties.
Domestic violence and available resources
Domestic violence remains a prevalent problem in most academic environments, and while efforts are being made to combat this problem, AU is no exception. According to the ASR, in 2022, a total of 83 rapes and 79 cases of dating violence were reported. As the report points out, 64 of 83 reported rape incidents and 64 of 79 dating violence incidents “occurred in the context of a dating relationship over a period of months in 2021.”
The university provides resources for survivors of this violence, and members of the campus community are working to raise awareness and implement educational initiatives that can prevent this violence.
Elise Lopez, Assistant Director of the Relationship Violence Program at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizonaworked a lot on intervention programs related to sexual violence and substance abuse, among other topics.
Currently, Lopez and his team in the College of Public Health are working on a program called “Transforming wild cat culture,” which trains students to recognize certain cues and risk factors related not only to dating violence, but also to many of the other crimes reported by Clery.
“With ‘Transforming Wildcat Culture,’ we cover the beasts that you heard about in the Clery Report, things like consent, alcohol, bystander intervention, statistics and definitions,” Lopez said. “We are also able to adapt this presentation when different departments want us to intervene to provide prevention with their students. We’re starting to see a lot more departments on campus that are really trying to take a proactive approach to combating these types of Clery crimes.
In addition to this training, Housing and Residential Life Staffalong with members of Greek Life, have updated the resources they use to respond to reports of violence.
“Last year we worked with Greek Life on a lot of prevention efforts, but one of the things they specifically requested in Greek Life was comfort kits for survivors that included just basic items in plus resources, like journals with journal prompts that might help them. in their healing, essential oils that could help them relax,” Lopez said. “Housing understood that, and so we are now working with them to prepare these survivor amenity kits that the RAs will have as a resource for students as well.”
UA Crime Data Trends
According to the report, some of the most frequently reported crimes on campus were related to arrests and disciplinary actions under the alcohol law. In 2022, there were 78 arrests under the Alcohol Act and 452 incidents of disciplinary action under the Alcohol Act. These two areas showed a decrease compared to the figures listed in 2021: 104 arrests and 570 incidents of disciplinary measures.
According to the ASR report, the the number of motor vehicle thefts on campus also increased, from 14 reported in 2021 to 29 reported in 2022. This problem persists in 2023; last month, the AU Police Department sent a E-mail to the student body deal with the increase in vehicle thefts on campus. According to the opinion, Seven thefts occurred between August 21 and September 11 in parking lots, parking lots and various campus streets.
While the report summarizes annual crime dataIndividual criminal records are analyzed daily to look for trends or highlight specific areas of concern, depending on UAPD Chief Chris Olson.
“I’m looking for trend data. A good example is that we have had 70 cases of vehicle break-ins, vehicle thefts or criminal damage to vehicles (vandalism) since the start of the school year through October 10. I can see that data over that time period, but I’ve been paying attention to it because I’ve seen the daily crime logs,” Olson said. “What this tells the PD is that it is time to employ surveillance countermeasures, high visibility patrols, work with our partners in parking and transportation and (facilities management) for assistance from their staff members in reporting any suspicious activity. This informs us that we may need to issue, and we have done, with vehicle thefts, a timely CLERY warning to let the community know that we have seen an increase in this phenomenon.
The UAPD issued a series of recommendations in light of these thefts, including:
- “Close all windows and lock all doors before leaving your vehicle.
- Remove valuable items from your vehicle
- Consider anti-theft and auto-tracking technology
- Park in well-lit areas
- If you see suspicious activity in parking lots or around campus, call 9-1-1.
- For additional safety tips, please visit uapd.arizona.edu And security.arizona.edu»
In 2022, the UA campus also saw a slight increase in hate crimes. The Clery Report defines hate crimes as “a criminal offense committed which demonstrates that the victim was intentionally selected due to the perpetrator’s prejudice against them.
There was four reported incidents of aggravated assault characterized by sexual orientation bias, one report of simple assault characterized by national origin bias, three reports of bullying characterized by origin bias national and ethnic origin, a report of bullying characterized by racial bias and a report of destruction on campus. /damage/vandalism of property characterized by gender biass.
For reference, in 2021, the AU witnessed a racially biased act of vandalism on campus and a report of racially biased vandalism to public property.
AU uses both enforcement and educational measures to prevent hate crimes on campus.
“We work with (the Threat Assessment and Management Team) to measure the threat assessment to the community, a specific community group, a marginalized community member or other individuals,” Olson said .
Olson noted that UAPD is also working with the FBI’s Hate Crimes Task Force to evaluate these concerns.
Campus Security
The AU only reported a fire in 2022. The fire was in Pima Residence, located at 1340 E. 1st Street. According to the report, “an electrical fault in a bathroom ceiling fan” caused the fire. While there was no injuries reportedthe total damage caused by the fire amounts to $18,598.11.
All residence hall employees must participate in intensive safety training, which includes fire safety, according to Mary Beth Tucker, Vice President of Equity and Title IX and Acting Chief Compliance Officer.
“The RAs, as well as the office assistants to some extent, and certainly the community directors, go through a pretty intense training period over the summer,” Tucker said. “It ranges from how to work with traumatized students, to how to respond, to how to respond to parents, to how to monitor alcohol or drug use in the dorms, to how to handle first aid issues and other immediate or urgent problems. needs before first responders arrive.
Many updates have been made to campus security policies since the 2022-23 academic year, policies that university officials say help mitigate Clery’s reported crime cases.
THE Public Safety Bureau is one of the most significant changes and has been instrumental in improving campus security and coordination between different teams, according to Olson.
“What I like is that it’s no longer just a matter for the police to solve these security and crime problems. We have a whole community approach with OPS, and I think that’s one of the most important changes,” Olson said. “Secondly, the way we manage threat assessment under the direction of Dr Semann, our offices here at the department, and how we work with the Dean of Students. (…) These units working together, we unite.”
An example of this coordination is the use and training of “stop the bleed” kits. THE “stop the bleeding” program, built by the American College of Surgeons, teaches people how to care for a seriously injured person. According to Olson, AU’s facilities management, parking and transportation teams will receive “stop the bleeding” training to increase the number of people on campus capable of providing emergency care when needed .
“We are looking to train all facility maintenance staff, from custodians to electricians, on how to use the ‘stop the bleeding’ kits, because in an emergency, firefighters and police are likely busy doing something else and we may not be. able to reach the places we need to go,” Olson said. “FM has 600 employees on this campus and it’s great for them to have the ability to provide emergency first aid to someone who needs it.”
These various initiatives feed into a broader discussion on campus about safety and security, a conversation that is reinforced by the information provided in the ASR report.
“(The report) concerns a variety of things that impact offices on campus and also housing, because there are elements related to fire safety in residential housing, or other policies related to those who live on campus, related to facility security. (…) but also personal safety,” Tucker said. “The broader idea, the reason for the law itself, is that individuals, whether prospective students (or) parents, can see something that allows them to really compare apples to apples at different universities and colleges across the country.”
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