The University of Oregon’s annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report is now available online.
The report, posted on the UO Police Department website, is prepared every year to provide information on safety and security programs, practices and statistics. Known as a Clery report, the document is required under the federal Jeanne Clery Act.
Federal law requires very specific information in Clery reports, such as certain crimes reported to law enforcement or to university representatives and crimes on specific property owned or controlled by the university or in public areas that run through or immediately next to campus.
Also, the report must include crimes from these locations regardless of the victims’ association to the university. It does not include crimes that happened off campus. The statistics include any reports that are made in good faith to the university — not just to law enforcement — and can be anonymous, regardless of the existence or outcome of an investigation.
Because of the Clery Act’s narrow geographic scope, no direct correlation exists between the report statistics and surveys focused on sexual assaults experienced generally by college-age women. There are also reasons why fewer incidents would occur on university property, including the fact that most on-campus residences have live-in staff and bedrooms that are typically shared with a roommate, offering fewer opportunities for the isolation that perpetrators often prefer.
Most statistics in this year’s report are similar to recent years.
The number of on-campus rapes reported in 2016 was 16, as compared to seven in 2015; total sex offenses — rape, fondling, statutory rape, incest — for all covered locations remained at 27, the same as 2015.
Law enforcement and Title IX officials believe a growing percentage of students are willing to report incidents to the university or to police, thanks to greater awareness of the issue and robust local resources.
“Our campuswide team is dedicated to raising awareness, providing support and building a culture that rejects sexual misconduct,” Title IX Coordinator and Associate Vice President Darci Heroy said. “That work continues to be reflected in the increased number of students using the university’s resources and often choosing to share information with the university. We hope and expect to see more students reaching out for help, especially with the new reporting policy in place this year and the diligent efforts of our colleagues across campus.”
Statistics in the annual Clery report are collected and presented by calendar year. The just-published edition includes statistics from 2016, as well as 2014 and 2015.