The University Of Utah: 2021 Student Housing Crime Statistics Report Released

Press release from The University of Utah:

University of Utah Communications

February 25, 2022

The University of Utah released its first housing-specific crime report this week.

Background

This detailed crime data is required by state law passed in 2021, which requires Utah higher education institutions to gather information about all crimes reported to campus and local law enforcement agencies and break the statistics down by housing unit*. The report includes information about the Clery Act’s reportable offenses, which include crimes ranging from property crimes to hate crimes; sex offenses; Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) offenses; and drug, alcohol and weapon offenses.

The Student Housing Crime Statistics Report is separate from the university’s Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (ASR), which is posted twice a year—once in the fall, and once in the spring. Both reports are available online and include data from 2020. The crime statistics detailed in the housing report also are counted in the ASR.

Trends

Together, the crime reports show a decrease in Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) offenses compared to statistics from 2019. Additionally, fondling cases, aggravated assaults, motor vehicle theft, and drug and alcohol arrests cases also decreased. This is likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced the population on campus during the 2020-2021 school year.

U Safety leaders noted that rape cases peaked between 2018 and 2019—from 12 to 20 cases, presumably due to more information and resources available to the victims. During 2020, cases remained steady, with 21 total cases. The housing crime report tracked:

Those numbers do not include reports made to other offices and service providers outside of law enforcement.

“Any crime is one too many as we strive to make the University of Utah a welcoming and secure place for our students to learn, faculty to teach and staff to work,” said Keith Squires, chief safety officer. “We know that transparency and clear communication are among our most powerful tools to raise awareness about safety on our campus.

“Along with other innovations in our safety operations, we believe University Safety is on the right track—responding with a victim-centric and trauma-informed approach to all crimes on our campus, so survivors feel safe and heard when they report these crimes.”

Context

To put the crime statistics in context, university leaders have compared the data to annual safety reports from peer institutions in the PAC-12 and three mid-size Salt Lake County cities (Draper, Herriman and Murray) with daytime populations similar to that of the university and its auxiliary campuses:

2020 PAC-12 Crime Statistics: Annual Security & Fire Safety Report Institution Murder Rape Burglary MV Theft Domestic Violence Dating Violence Drug Arrests Weapon Arrests

2020 City Crime Statistics (Population: 49-56,000) City Murder Rape Burglary MV Theft Domestic Violence Drug/ Narcotic Offenses Weapon Violations Draper, Utah Herriman, Utah Murray, Utah

If you need to report a crime, call University Police at 801-585-2677, or go to safeu.utah.edu for additional campus resources. Local and national support also is available from the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465) and the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

*The university provides single, group and family housing for undergraduate and graduate students. Housing and Residential Education (HRE) manages facilities in the Fort Douglas Officer’s Circle area, traditional on-campus residence halls and the Block 44 and downtown commons buildings in downtown Salt Lake City. University Student Apartments (USA) manages graduate and family student housing in the Medical Plaza area and USA’s East and West Villages on Sunnyside Ave. (The Block 44 lease expires in May 2022.)

**Not included in Crime in Utah report by city. Source: https://bci.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2021/10/Crime-in-Utah-2020.pdf

This press release was produced by The University of Utah. The views expressed here are the author’s own.