The university had a slight increase in crimes reported in 2017, according to the Ohio University 2018 Clery Act Annual Security Report.
Kerri Griffin, interim director of Title IX University Equity and Civil Rights Compliance, said in a news release the increase could be a result of several different factors.
“Multiple factors may have contributed to this slight increase, including growth in the campus population as well as a continued focus on educating the campus community about where to make reports in an effort to connect victims to resources,” Griffin said in the news release. “In addition, each year’s data include crimes that were reported in that year; some of those crimes may have occurred in a prior year.”
The Annual Security Report contains information regarding campus security and personal safety, such as crime prevention, local law enforcement authority, crime report policies, disciplinary procedures and other matters of importance related to campus security, Griffin said in the news release.
It also includes crime statistics on the Athens regional and extension campuses from 2015, 2016 and 2017. The Athens statistics on campus also include crimes that occurred in on-campus residence halls, off-campus buildings controlled by OU and public property within or adjacent to the campus.
According to the OU 2018 Clery Act Annual Security Report, arrests due to liquor law and drug law violations have increased in the past year.
Arrests made from liquor law violations increased from 2016. According to the report, there were 24 liquor law violation arrests on campus in 2017 and 12 arrests in 2016. Drug law violations also increased with 324 arrests on campus in 2017 and 278 drug law violation arrests in 2016.
There was a decrease in the amount of disciplinary referrals for liquor and drug law violations on campus. There were 400 liquor law violations disciplinary referrals in 2017 and 574 in 2016. Drug law violations also decreased with 229 disciplinary referrals on campus in 2017 and 250 disciplinary referrals in 2016.
Reports of rape slightly increased, according to the crime statistics for Athens campus in the Annual Security Report. In 2017, there were 33 reports of rape and 32 rape reports in 2016.
There was also an increase in reports for domestic violence, dating violence, robbery and burglary. There were no reports of domestic violence in 2016 but two reports in 2017. In 2017, there were 19 reports of dating violence and 9 reports in 2016.
In 2015 and 2016, there were no reports of robbery on campus, but in 2017, there were three. In 2017, there were 16 reports of burglary and 15 reports in 2016.
While there was an increase in most of the crime statistics, there were decreases in others such as stalking and motor vehicle theft.
In 2017, there were 15 reports of stalking on campus, while there were 24 reports in 2016. In 2015 and 2016, there were seven reports of motor vehicle theft each year. In 2017, there were only two reports.
