Breaking down VCU’s latest Security and Fire Safety Report

Ryan Murphy
News Editor

The number of crimes reported in this year’s VCU’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is higher than the number reported last year, but Assistant Police Chief Chris Preuss says that numerically, crime in general is down.

The disconnect comes from the way VCU has been reporting the numbers in the reports. Before 2009, only VCU Police’s numbers counted toward the totals. In the 2009 and 2010 Richmond Police statistics within VCU police’s jurisdiction and referrals of students were included. This year’s report, which relays the numbers from 2011, includes arrests and referrals from the Virginia State Police and Virginia Alcohol and Beverage Control.

“This change was made after Chief Venuti had a Clery expert come to VCU to speak on Clery itself and the related reporting practices,” Preuss said. The Jeanne Clery Act is a federal law that governs the disclosure of crime on college campuses.

Arrests for robbery and larceny both fell in 2011, even with reporting from additional agencies, and burglary is down by 88 percent since 2010. Motor vehicle theft is the lowest its been in three years.

“Statistically, larceny is the number one crime you will see on any college campus in the United States and is an issue that all departments struggle with. We continuously find new ways to engage students in protecting their valuables,” Preuss said in an email. Recently, VCU Police have undertaken a new larceny prevention campaign called “See Something Shady,” which encourages students to call the police if something seems out of the ordinary.

“I absolutely think that our efforts/campaigns have made a difference,” Preuss said.

According to the Virginia State Police’s Crime in Virginia Report for 2011, VCU has the largest police force among state schools, with 79 sworn officers, 25 more than George Mason’s, the next-largest campus police force in the state with 54 officers.

That report from the state police indicates that VCU had the highest number of incidents among the 24 colleges and universities reported, 1,111 total , which is more than double those at the next highest school, the University of Virginia. VCU tallied the highest number of assaults, larcenies, weapons law violations and drug/narcotic offenses among state schools.

The total number of drug- and alcohol-related arrests, now including the VSP and ABC numbers, rose to 1295 in 2011. This was more than in the previous two years combined, 592 in 2010 and 572 in 2009, when VSP and ABC numbers weren’t included. In campus housing alone, arrests and judicial referrals for drug offenses have doubled and liquor charges have tripled since 2010.

“Quite simply, we enforce the Code of Virginia and have a zero tolerance regarding (drug- and alcohol-related) offenses,” Preuss said. “This is a policy that was ramped up when Chief Venuti started here at VCU and something that we have preached … You would be hard-pressed to find a student who could say that they were not given a warning to not drink alcohol underage or participate in any other liquor law violations or participate in any illegal drug activity.”

Forcible sexual assaults have slightly increased, from seven in 2009 to nine in 2010 and finally 12 in 2011, but they remain below the five-year high of 13 reported in 2008, when only VCU Police numbers were reported. Aggravated assaults, however, were half of the previous year’s, even with additional agencies reporting. According to the annual reports available on the VCU police website, VCU hasn’t recorded a hate crime since before 2004, which is the oldest available report.

Fires in residential buildings were also up, to 19 incidents in 2011, the same number tallied in residential buildings during the two previous years (five in 2010 and 13 in 2009). The Cary and Belvidere Residential College alone experienced eight fires in 2011, more than any other single building during the time reported (2009-2011). Most of the fires were cooking related, but Rhoads Hall and West Grace Street Student Housing (which is now called The Honors College) both experienced electrical fires during 2011.