Photo by Samantha Hearn / MTSU Sidelines archive
The MTSU Police Department recently released its 2018 Annual Security Report in accordance with the Clery Act that includes information regarding reported crimes that occurred on campus; in certain non-campus buildings or properties owned or controlled by MTSU; and on public property within or immediately adjacent to the campus.
According to the report, on-campus rape reports doubled from three rapes in 2016 to six rapes in 2017, and on-campus domestic violence reports more than doubled from 2016 to 2017. Similar issues may have persisted as MTSU Police responded to a reported rape at a campus residence hall within the first month of the 2018-19 school year.
Off-campus crimes listed in the security report are classified by local law enforcement as criminal activity occurring at any non-campus properties owned, leased or controlled by officially recognized student organizations at MTSU.
The security report is broken down into several crime classifications, including the following:
- Murder, aggravated assault and negligent manslaughter
- Rape, fondling, statutory rape and incest.
- Robbery, motor vehicle theft, burglary and arson
- Domestic violence, dating violence and stalking
Significant differences in 2016’s and 2017’s statistics from this report are as follows:
- On-campus reported rapes doubled from three reports in 2016 to six in 2017. According to the report, all of the rapes in 2016 and 2017 occurred at student residences, which are also classified in the report as “on campus.”
- On-campus domestic violence has increased from 2016 to 2017. Seven on-campus incidents were reported in 2016, and 19 on-campus incidents were reported in 2017.
- There were no reported aggravated assaults in 2016. In 2017, however, there were four reported aggravated assaults, one of which was found baseless. Two of these assaults occurred at student residences and another was on public property.
- There have been zero reports of murder, negligent manslaughter and arson in the time frame of this report.
- There have also been zero reports of statutory rape in the time frame of this report.
Graphic courtesy of MTSU 2018 Annual Security Report
The report also includes arrests classified by liquor law violations, drug law violations and weapons violations. This section is split into two parts: Arrests and Disciplinary Referral. Fifty-eight drug violation arrests in 2016 dropped to 48 in 2017. Despite this, there were more arrests on campus, as opposed to off-campus arrests at MTSU-involved properties, involving drug violation charges in 2017 than there were in 2016.
Simple assault, vandalism, intimidation and larceny were all tallied on a separate chart in the report for non-Clery, voluntary reporting. They can be viewed below:
Graphic courtesy of MTSU 2018 Annual Security Report
To contact news Editor Caleb Revill, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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