By Raven Ash

Students at QU can use the annual security report to track crime on campus each year because of the Clery Act.

The Clery Act mandates that all higher learning institutions that receive federal financial aid are required to provide a report of all crime that occurs on campus each year. The report is divided into categories including criminal offenses, hate crimes, violence against women and arrests or referrals for disciplinary actions.

The 2018 security report reveals incidents that fall under several of the Clery Act crime categories.

In the category of criminal offense, seven incidents were reported. There were six burglaries and one case of fondling. These numbers differ from the 2017 report. In 2017, there were four cases of burglary and one rape.

The University has reported zero hate crimes on campus since 2013.

Under the category of violence against women, one case of stalking was reported. Only one other incident has been reported under the violence against women category since it became a Clery Act category in 2014. The 2014 case was also one incident of stalking.

The report shows that 2018 had the least amount of arrests on campus since 2013. In fact, the number of arrests on campus has been declining each year since 2015 when 11 arrests were made. There were seven arrests made in 2016, four in 2017 and one drug abuse violation arrest in 2018.

The category with the highest numbers on the security report is referrals for disciplinary actions. The 2018 report showed six drug abuse violations and eight liquor law violations. However, the university lost eight months worth of data when switching reporting systems. Because information was difficult to recover, the numbers listed in the report only reflect limited data. Since 2012, the number of liquor law violations have been between 70 and 90. In 2017, there were 15 drug abuse violations.

“This annual security report is intended to be a visible and detailed product of our determination to be transparent in the areas of safety and security. Only by being honestly transparent will our community be better prepared to face the safety and security challenges today and tomorrow,” Sam Lathrop, Quincy University director of safety and security, said.

The annual security report only reports incidents that were brought to security’s attention. With what has been identified as a lack of civility this semester, Lathrop says it is important that students inform the security office when incidents on campus occur.

“I agree that this year I have seen an issue with civility on campus. I have seen incidents that I probably should have reported to security, but at the time I did not take it too seriously,” Daniela Mancilla, student, said.

“We have been very effective in dealing with hostility or uncivil actions that may be directed at students. Be it new students suffering from some kind of social media backlash from fellow students or actual physical confrontations,” Lathrop said.

Students who wish to report an incident on campus can contact the security office for the officer on duty.

On Duty Security Officer (accessible 24 hrs. per day)
217-228-5600
(or ext. 5600 from any university landline phone)