Crime down at SIU, Clery report shows

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Daily Egyptian file photo

By Cory Ray

Campus crime largely went down between 2015 and 2016, according to SIU’s Department of Public Safety’s Annual Security and Fire Report for 2016.

Burglary, alcohol and sexual crimes decreased, but cases of assault increased.

Incidents of burglary decreased from 40 in both 2014 and 2015 to 19 in 2016.

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Overall, there were four reported cases of rapes — all in student housing — in 2016, down from 13 on-campus cases in 2015. For dating violence, 21 cases were reported — 14 of which were in student housing — which is up slightly from the 19 cases reported in 2015.

Assault increased from five to eight incidents. Two years ago, the number of aggravated assault incidents was seven.

There were three assault cases of hate crime, all involving racial bias, according to the report. Two reports of intimidation — one race-related and another involving sexual orientation — were reported. This is an increase from the previous two years, in which only one racially-based intimidation incident was reported.

Alcohol-related arrests decreased from 165 to 134 in 2016, but drug arrests did not change much between 2015 and 2016. Referrals for both, however, decreased significantly from 2015.

Additionally, there were two counts of motor vehicle theft, one housing incident involving arson and one housing incident of illegal weapons possession.

The report is part of the Clery Act, which requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information on crime committed on and near campus. The full report can be read here.

Staff writer Cory Ray can be reached at cray@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @coryray_de.

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