PROJECT 1: CAMPUS CRIME
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“The Reality of Crime on Campus” and “Unreported” both discuss the issues with crime on campus, as well as analyze what is currently being done in order to combat this prevalent issue. “The Reality of Crime on Campus” focuses on campus crime in the 1980s from a national perspective. The article discusses how reporting mechanisms for crime was lacking at the time, although limited information indicated that crime was on the rise. The article specifically discusses sexual assault, and gives several examples of cases throughout the United States (Purdun, 1988). “Unreported,” on the other hand, focuses on Penn State specifically. It largely discusses how many sexual assault cases go unreported, as well as how the University can work to improve these statistics and the number of unreported cases. However, the article acknowledges and discusses what is currently being done by the University (Aiken, 2018).
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In my project, in which my state of focus was Maryland, the five largest universities by enrollment were selected based upon their 2016 values as stated in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. According to the UCR program, burglary refers to “the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft” (Crime in the U.S.). Larceny is defined as “the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another” (Crime in the U.S.). Rape is defined as “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim” (Crime in the U.S.). The FBI changed the way in which they systemized rape in 2013. In regards to my data, it did not appear to have an effect on most of the universities, as the measures stayed relatively consistent. It is important to note that these numbers and rates are only instances of reported crimes. All of the raw numbers were converted into a similar rate (victims per 100,000) to control for the different enrollment size of each of the campuses—thus making it much easier to compare the campuses to one another.
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In regards to my figures, Salisbury had consistently the highest percentage of rape victims per 100,000. Morgan State University, on the other hand, consistently had the highest average burglary and larceny victims per 100,000. Interestingly, while Morgan State had the highest burglary and larceny victims, it had an average of 0 rape victims throughout the time period studied. The average national rape rate—calculated by taking the average of the rates given by the UCR Program from 2012 to 2016—is 35.94 victims per 100,000. The average national burglary rate is 556 victims per 100,000. The average national larceny rate is 11,843.48 (Crime in the U.S.). In all cases, the instances of campus crime were below these national rates.
In an article published in the University of Maryland’s independent student newspaper entitled “UMD Found Seven Students were Responsible for Sexual Assault Last Year...,” Campisi analyzes the inconsistencies between how the university responds to sexual assault cases. For the same violation, some students received either expulsions or expulsions depending on the nature of the crime, and the article analyzes what goes into making these decisions. It also discusses the sexual assault rate, as well as how the complaints and investigations process proceed at the University (Campisi, 2017).
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References
Aiken, M. (2018, April 26). Unreported. Retrieved January 22, 2019, from The Daily Collegian website: https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/crime_courts/article_c472d106-48ff-11e8-ad51-7be6cc98d357.html
Campisi, J. (2017, January 30). UMD found seven students responsible for sexual assault last year. only four were expelled. Retrieved January 21, 2019, from The Diamondback website: http://www.dbknews.com/2017/01/30/title-ix-annual-report/
Crime in the U.S. (n.d.). Retrieved from Uniform Crime Reporting Program website: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/cius-2016
Purdum, T. (1988, April 10). The reality of crime on campus. Retrieved from The New York Times website: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/10/education/the-reality-of-crime-on-campus.html
