UC Davis is publishing an expanded report of crime statistics, including for the first time crimes from a wider geographical area and incidents reported by more campus officials.

The report has been prepared in accordance with new amendments to the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

The report indicates there were eight serious crimes against persons on or near the main campus and 14 at or near the medical center in Sacramento. In addition, 84 crimes against property occurred on or near the main campus and 33 at or near the medical center.

Fifty-two arrests were made for drug, alcohol and weapons violations on or near the main campus and 83 at or near the medical center. At or near the main campus, 13 additional incidents were reported to non-police campus officials and not verified as crimes by the UC Davis police department.

The figures include statistics provided by not only the UC Davis Police Department, but also the cities of Davis and Sacramento police departments.

Statistics in the Clery Act report are different from those in the UC Davis Police Department’s annual report, which is prepared pursuant to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program and released each spring.

The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to report statements of security policy and statistics for specified crimes verified to have occurred in defined locations on and near campuses. Universities and colleges report the information to the U.S. Department of Education and must also make the information and annual statistics available to students and employees by Oct. 1 of the following year.

The Clery Act report prepared by UC Davis is one of several ways the campus provides campus crime information to the campus community and the public. The UC Davis Police Department maintains a daily crime log and publishes an annual report that reflects incidents of crime pursuant to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, both of which are available for public review.

"Community awareness of crime is one of the most important aspects of personal safety," says Chief Calvin Handy of the university police department. "We believe an aware community is a safer community."

The Clery Act statistics reported for 1999 reflect recent amendments to the act that greatly expanded the geographical areas covered by the law and the parties responsible for reporting offenses. They vary from those in the annual FBI report because of differences in the definitions of crimes and other reporting requirements.

An event is reported as an offense if appropriate law enforcement officials verify that the event happened and that it contains the required elements of a crime.

An event is counted as an incident if it is reported to various campus officials—including coaches, resident advisers and Student Judicial Affairs officers—but not reported to university police or not verified to have actually occurred is reported. Although not required to do so by the Clery Act, the university also is voluntarily reporting statistics based on incidents reported confidentially to the Campus Violence Prevention Program but not reported to university police or not verified by police to have actually occurred.

In 1996 the campus was the recipient of the inaugural Jeanne Clery National Safe Campus Award in recognition of its long-standing policy to publish crime statistics and its exemplary personal safety programs. The award was made by Security on Campus Inc., one of the organizations that lobbied for what is now the Clery Act.

Clery locations

The Clery act requires offenses be reported according to four locations:

• student housing on campus;
• other campus buildings or properties;
• non-campus buildings or properties, including those not within the same reasonably contiguous areas and owned or controlled by the university or recognized student organizations, such as fraternities;
• and public property adjacent to and readily accessible from the campus, such as parks, sidewalks, streets and public parking facilities.

The university coordinates with local law enforcement agencies to gather information on crimes that occurred off campus on public property and in non-campus buildings or on non-campus property, including with the city of Davis Police Department for the main campus and the Sacramento Police Department for the medical center.

"The campus is fortunate to have highly collaborative relationships with the cities of Davis and Sacramento police departments," Handy says.

Main campus offenses

There were 92 serious offenses against persons and property reported pursuant to Clery Act requirements, on or around the main campus in 1999. Last year, 88 were reported under more narrowly defined reporting requirements.

The 1999 offenses include two forcible sex offenses in residence halls and another two in other campus buildings or on campus property. Four forcible sex offenses in occurred campus buildings or on campus property in 1998.

Two aggravated assaults were reported in campus buildings or on campus properties and two occurred in non-campus buildings or on non-campus property in 1999. Three aggravated assaults were reported in 1998.

Sixty-six burglaries happened in 1999, including 10 in residence halls and 51 in other campus buildings or on campus property. There were a total of 61 burglaries in 1998.

Sixteen motor vehicle thefts from campus properties were reported in 1999, compared with eight the previous year. One arson in a residence hall and another in a campus building or on campus property were reported in 1999.

A total of 28 arrests and 205 referrals to the campus disciplinary office for liquor violations were reported. Regarding drug violations, 21 arrests and four referrals were made. Weapons violations statistics included three arrests and one referral for campus disciplinary action.

Main campus incidents

Incidents reported on or around the main campus not verified as crimes include 11 forcible sex offenses, with five reported in residence halls, one in another campus building or on campus property, and five in a non-campus building or on non-campus property. Also, two aggravated assaults were reported to have taken place in a non-campus building or on non-campus property.

The incidents were reported to individuals with significant responsibility for student and campus activities who have been instructed to contact the Campus Violence Prevention Program when incidents are reported to them. The individuals include university officers, deans, directors, Student Affairs staff, Student Judicial Affairs officers and advisers.

Medial Center offenses

There were a total of 47 serious offenses on or around the medical center in 1999 identified in the Clery Act report. Last year, under more narrowly defined reporting requirements, 38 were reported.

The 1999 totals include two reported forcible sex offenses in university buildings or on university property and four on public property. Ttwo forcible sex offenses were reported the previous year.

There were two aggravated assaults reported in university buildings or on university property; an additional four, including three related to domestic violence, were reported as occurring on public property; one such offense was reported in 1998.

Two robberies were reported as having occurred on public property in 1999.

Other offenses described in the Clery Act report include nine burglaries in university buildings or in university property and six on public property. In 1998, there were 18. Sixteen motor vehicle thefts from campus property and two from public property were reported, compared with 17 in 1998.

There were a total of 39 arrests for liquor law violations reported in 1999, compared with 69 in 1998. Regarding drug law violations, there were 41 arrests, compared to 45 the previous year. Arrests for weapons violations included three in 1998 and in 1999.

Medical Center incidents

No incidents were reported for the medical center because it does not have many of the officials, such as coaches and resident advisers, who are responsible for reporting such events.

Policy, procedures and training

UC Davis recently prepared an updated and expanded summary of the policies and procedures it follows to comply with the Clery Act.

The Campus Violence Prevention Program, which compiles the Clery Act statistics, is providing additional training to individuals–including coaches, teaching assistants, and resident advisers–who are asked to report offenses and incidents. The training includes a review of protocols for providing assistance to crime victims, for making referrals for help, and for reporting offenses and incidents.

Distribution of Clery statistics

The Clery statistics and other information on campus security policies will be available on the UC Davis police department’s Web site and in a special publication available through the Campus Violence Prevention Program. To notify the campus community that the information is available, UC Davis places notices on student bills and employee pay stubs and in the "Class Schedule & Registration Guide" and the "General Catalog."