The number of reported forcible sex offenses on Ohio University's Athens campus have decreased by nearly 75 percent, according to a nation-wide report released Friday.
Sexual assaults dropped from 17 reported incidents in 2005 to four in 2006, according to the Clery Act Compliance Report, which details annual crime report statistics on college campuses across the nation.
The number of reported burglaries also dropped about 12 percent from 57 in 2005 to 45 in 2006 on the Athens campus. Liquor-related offenses have dropped by about 15 percent from 1,438 reported in 2005 to 1,223 in 2006.
All crimes reported to the Ohio University Police Department and the Athens Police Department that occurred on campus or adjacent to campus are included in the Clery Report, said OUPD Lt. Rich Russell.
The report isolates campuses from cities so that each school can be evaluated on the same level. A school in New York, for example, would have a much higher crime rate if the city was included, said Russell.
The report cookie-cuts every campus
which is a great idea because people can't know every campus Russell said.
The information is helpful to prospective students and their parents, said university spokesman George Mauzy.
Students come here from all over and they might not know (of crimes committed)
he said.
The Clery Report excludes crimes committed at private residences and private property that is not adjacent to campus. For example, the report includes Court Street, but excludes Mill Street, said Russell.
The act is named in honor of a young woman named Jeanne Clery, who was raped and murdered at her dorm, he said.
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