The 2017 Security and Fire Safety Report, also known as the Clery Report, released every year by University Police, shows that most statistics related to campus safety remain mostly unchanged from 2014 to 2016, but rape and dating violence increased and disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations decreased.
Compared to previous years, there was a large increase in rape and dating violence on campus. Last year, there were 30 reported incidents of rape on-campus, compared to three in 2014 and nine in 2015. In 2016, a single student reported approximately 20 instances of rape and dating violence during their two-year relationship.
Due to the requirements of the Clery Act, those instances must be included in the report, even if they did not occur in that year. Due to privacy reasons, according to Maj. David Kelly, major of NC State University Police Department field operations, there is no way of knowing the accurate number of incidences that occurred in 2016.
The most significant change in campus safety in 2016 was a decrease in disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations. In 2014, the number of referrals was 440 and in 2015 it was 435, but in 2016, the number of referrals dropped to 340. Maj. Kelly was unable to say what changed in the past year to cause the number of referrals to drop significantly.
Riley Beatty, a first-year studying engineering, commented on how the Clery Act can improve campus safety.
“I think it’s important that they publish the stats so you can get an idea of what crimes are happening and which areas of campus it is happening, and what can be done to fix the crimes that are occurring,” Beatty said.
At the beginning of the 2015 academic school year, NC State revised its alcohol safety and intervention policy, known as “Howl for Help.” The revision to the program encourages students to seek medical assistance in cases of alcohol-related emergencies without fear, by providing protection from charges related to specific violations of the Code of Student Conduct.
Included in the report, Chancellor Randy Woodson issued a statement on alcohol and illegal drugs.
“NC State’s ‘Howl for Help’ program encourages students to make responsible decisions when faced with such emergencies and promotes safety as a top university priority,” Woodson said in the statement.
Also included in the report were incidences of fire on campus. In 2016, there was only one fire reported on campus, which occurred on Fraternity Court and was intentional. However, in the previous year there were three unintentional cooking and electrical fires, two in Wolf Village and one in Western Manor and one undetermined fire in Metcalf Residence Hall. Intentional fires are not unheard of as in 2014, when an unknown individual set fire to a paper tag on a door in Wolf Village.
No hate crimes have been reported from 2014 to 2016, despite the growing concern of violence on college campuses. The prevention of on-campus hate crimes, especially during campus protests, are a priority according to NC State Police. At the beginning of the year during convocation, Chancellor Woodson condemned the violence and hate crimes that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“The hate, bigotry and racism and those ideals espoused by the white supremacists that converged on Charlottesville this weekend is in no way consistent with the values of this institution, [NC State],” Woodson said in August at Convocation.
The Security and Fire Safety Report goes in depth on how students can protect themselves on campus, and provides a plethora of resources for students to use for their protection and safety.
Cade MacAllister, a first-year studying chemistry, spoke about his confidence in NC State Police protection measures shown in the report.
“I do feel safer on campus, because I’m able to see the numbers presented for me and I can kind of envision how the campus safety is changing over the years, and that it is improving,” MacAllister said.
