Indepth look at the 2014 annual security report

BY MACKENZIE LEVEQUE & JAKE HENRY | STAFF WRITERS

When students received this year’s annual security report, they were con- fronted with columns of almost nothing but zeroes. The department of Public Safety’s annual security report, released Sept. 30, read that out of 20 listed offences only four reflected any sort of occurrence last year on PLNU’s main campus.
According to the report, there has not been any reported occurrences of aggravated assault, burglary, sex offenses, robbery, criminal homicide, arson, motor vehicle theft, dating violence, or stalking on PLNU’s campus in 2014.
However, the report did show that thirteen disciplinary referrals, one ac- count of domestic violence and one arrest happened last year.
The security report is specific for the year 2014.
“These are only tallies from last year,” said Supervisor of Public Safety Kazimir Trypuc. “Therefore, it does not include any violations from 2015. This means that any crimes that happened last spring or this year is not included in the currently available security report.”
However, Junior and Broadcast Journalism major Ariel Oriarte did not believe the crime statistics to be true and on Oct.5 The Point published an opinion piece that she wrote regarding the annual security report.
“After reading an article on Public Safety last year there is a number of things they try to hide from students to protect an image,”Oriarte wrote. “I’d rather know the facts then pretend like we live in a perfect little world.”
Oriarte wasn’t the only student that was concerned about the security report, Junior Teacher Education major Caleb Moore agreed, saying that, “When I first saw the security report, I didn’t feel like it was at all indicative of my experience.” Moore said this because he said had several property items stolen from him.
The security report only reflects crimes that are reported directly to Public Safety or that were reported to law enforcement and are reflected as such in the report.
The Jeanne Clery Act of 1990 requires that students have access to their school’s security report.
The Clery Act requires universities to offer a variety of services as well as include specific information in the security report such as crime statistics from local law enforcement and statistics for the two previous years.
According to the SanDiegoReader.com, in 2013, PLNU’s Clery Report reads, “a student reported to campus authorities that she was being stalked by a fellow student who was a former boyfriend.”
The perpetrator was expelled as a result of the administrative investigation. It was also reported, according to the SanDiegoReader.com, that an- other PLNU student reported in 2013 that she was raped off campus and the person who raped her had been sending her threatening electronic messages ever since.
With knowledge of these crimes, Trypuc clarified how numbers should be read on the security report.
One example is motor vehicle thefts. In 2012, there were five motor vehicle thefts. However in 2015, there were none.
Trypuc said this is because this number doesn’t apply exclusively to car thefts.
“Most people probably think that this is a car theft,” he said. “What it mostly was though was people stealing the electric carts for joyriding over summer. One year, someone took it and crashed it.”
He added that the drop in these thefts was because people were dissuaded by the five people who got caught in the years before.
Domestic violence is another category on the security report. Junior Teacher Education major Ryan Young said that when he hears domestic violence he usually assumes it’s between spouses.
“However, domestic violence on a college campus can simply mean with- in one’s dorm,” Trypuc said. “What happened in our one domestic violence case was one student unit mate punching their other student unit mate.”
In the security report, there were six liquor and seven drug law violations in residence halls. Since PLNU’s
students sign a covenant agreeing to abstain from alcohol and drugs while attending PLNU, Assistant Director of Residential Life Kayleigh Hofer said the disciplinary actions for violating these rules are a ‘case by case process’.
“Students who approach us for help get help,” Hofer said. “It is a case by case process. The only reason a stu- dent would get a definite expulsion is for possession of drugs.”
It was also reported that there were zero sexual offenses in 2014.
“I think it is commonly under- stood that this issue is underreported,” said Trypuc. The security report only reflects crimes that are reported directly to Public Safety, or are reflected in local law enforcement statistics.
However, under the Clery Act university faculty who are considered to be “pastoral counselors” or “professional counselors” are not required to report crimes to campus security or law enforcement according to information from the U.S. Department of Education.
A pastoral counselor is defined by the Department of Education as “a person who is associated with a religious order or denomination, is recognized by that religious order or denomination as someone who pro- vides confidential counseling, and is functioning within the scope of that recognition as a pastoral counselor.”
The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network stated that 68% of sexual assaults go unreported. Another factor that goes into this low number is the geographical location.
“According to the Clery Act, they are only required to report offenses that occur on our campus,” Trypuc said.
The numbers only reflect sexual offenses that have occurred on cam- pus or on the school’s own properties. Hofer believes that the dry campus might help to lower instances of sexual assault.
“Alcohol and drugs are present in many sexual assault cases,” said Hofer. “Having a dry campus certainly lowers the probability of these assaults.”
If you have any questions about the annual security report, you can contact Supervisor of Public Safety Kazimir Trypuc at 619-849-2393.
Jonathan Soch contributed to this report.