How NYU’s security report only documents some of the crime on campus

Three weeks ago, NYU released it Annual report on security and fire safety 2024documenting an increase in thefts, aggravated assaults and motor vehicle thefts over the past year. The report records a federally designated series of 20 crimes, but it does not account for more than half of the incidents recorded in other university databases.

Under the Clery Act, the 1990 law that mandates the report, universities that receive federal funding are required to disclose all incidents that could have caused “physical harm,” as well as theft and stalking, and gun, drug and liquor laws. and around campus. But based on NYU’s 2023 daily crime log, the two most common crimes on campus are not included in the annual report.

Petty theft and sexual harassment accounted for 37% and 18% respectively of the total 1,405 incidents recorded in the crime log in 2023. In an interview with WSN, Dennis Gregory, a leading scholar of the Clery Act and associate professor of higher education at Old Dominion University in Virginia, said that while universities are not responsible for the discrepancies, they could benefit from underestimating crime in their annual reports.

“I don’t think campuses necessarily hide crimes,” Gregory said. “But I still think they’re reluctant to reach out and do things that could be great crime prevention.”

Federal law also limits the reported area to a zone, namely university facilities and their “reasonably contiguous” areas. As an urban university that blends into the city, NYU has drawn a boundary that closely encompasses Washington Square Park. Only 17% of the cases documented in the safety report occurred outside a campus building during the past academic year.

Some experts have suggested that universities should track crimes within 500 feet of campus Handbook Ministry of Education recommends one mile. However, when it comes to practice, rarely has a university gone beyond the campus zone. Samara Richards, a senior at the Silver School of Social work, told WSN that she thought the university should expand its boundaries and include dorms that are further from the central campus, especially those in Union Square and in other areas with MTA stations.

Richards also said she believed that the omission of low-level crimes, documented in the daily log, in the safety report resulted in an underrepresentation of students’ daily concerns.

“I think they should be reported,” Richards said. “It’s actually unbelievable that this site in general is something you have to look for and not necessarily advertised in a newsletter to keep us informed.”

The Department of Campus Safety collects its data through voluntary reporting, meaning it only records incidents reported by community members. Once crimes are reported to the department, the university rarely takes further action. Campus Safety is limited by the New York State security guard license and has no jurisdiction to enforce the law. In the event of a misdemeanor, officers will refer the matter to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, the Title IX Office, or the New York Office. City Police Department.

The university did not respond to requests for comment.

Contact Simon Tan at (email protected).