Zero murders, three sexual offenses, 229 liquor law violations and one illegal weapons violation took place at the University of Idaho during 2012.
According to the Student Press Law Center, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act — commonly referred to as the Clery Act — requires colleges and universities that receive Title IX funding to make information about on-campus criminal activity readily available to the public.
As reported in today’s issue of The Argonaut, Director of Emergency Management and Security Services Patrice McDaniel said the government-mandated report illustrates how secure and safe UI is to anyone interested in knowing. She said the goal of the act is to inform existing and potential staff and students as to how safe our campus is.
Unfortunately, because only crimes committed on campus are required to be reported, following the minimum guidelines alone does not go far enough to properly represent our campus.
For instance, the murder of Katy Benoit by her former professor Ernesto Bustamante took place off-campus, and is not required to show up in UI’s Clery Act numbers.
Another weak area in these reports is that of sexual assault. Nearly one in five women will be sexually assaulted during their time in college, according to a report issued Jan. 22 by the White House Council on Women and Girls. Incidents of rape and sexual assault on this campus are guaranteed to be significantly higher than ones that are actually reported to campus security and through the Clery Act.
While this isn’t a fault of UI or the Clery Act itself, it does speak to a larger issue regarding a victim’s ability to feel safe reporting his or her assault. UI does have quite a few resources available to students. The Dean of Students Office is available to walk students through the process of reporting assault, as is the 24-hour help line Alternatives to Violence on the Palouse.
As students, we should be vigilant to what is going on around us and be willing to step in to prevent potentially dangerous situations. We should also provide our friends with the support and direction they need if they are unsure whether or not to report an assault.
UI needs to ensure it goes above and beyond the call of duty when reporting crimes on campus. Whether it’s through a separate reporting process or some other means, UI should make public the information on crimes and assaults that take place during off-campus university-related events.
Additionally, reporting crimes that are closely connected to the university, such as the case of Katy Benoit, would go a long way to giving a more accurate picture of the actual safety on our campus.
The Clery Act is a starting point for preventing acts of violence and informing the community. Let’s take it from here.
–KM