George Washington University released its Annual Security and Fire Safety Report this week, presenting information on the crimes and other offenses reported to the Office of Safety and Security, the GW Police Department and other university offices during 2016.
This report is compiled each year by the Office of Safety and Security and GW Police Department in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Police and Crime Statistics Act and the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
Under that statute, the university is required to report on the incidence of certain offenses as defined by the Clery Act and the U.S. Department of Education. The report includes statistics about Clery crimes on campus, on certain off-campus properties owned or controlled by GW, and on public property within or immediately adjacent to campus.
As stated in the report, 33 cases of rape as defined by the Clery Act were reported on the Foggy Bottom Campus and seven were reported on the Mount Vernon Campus in 2016. Twenty-six cases of rape were reported on the Foggy Bottom Campus in 2015 and two were reported on the Mount Vernon Campus.
On the Foggy Bottom Campus, there were 15 reports of stalking, 21 reports of fondling, 10 reports of domestic violence, and five reports of dating violence in 2016. In 2015 four cases of stalking, five cases of fondling, 23 cases of domestic violence and 13 cases of dating violence were reported.
On the Mount Vernon campus one case of stalking, one case of fondling and one case of dating violence were reported. Three cases of domestic violence were also reported. Zero cases of stalking, fondling, domestic violence and dating violence were reported on the Mount Vernon Campus in 2015.
In connection with the gathering of information about Clery crimes for the report, three reports of rape and two reports of stalking in 2016 were also added to the GW Police Department’s crime log Monday.
A majority of the sexual assaults referenced in GW’s report were initially reported to the Title IX office and campus security authorities other than the GW Police Department. In some cases survivors of sexual assaults request confidentiality and decline to file Title IX complaints. GW strives to honor requests for confidentiality as much as possible, consistent with the need to ensure that disciplinary proceedings are fair and the university community is protected.
Making sure sexual assault survivors have access to services and resources is a top priority for the university, Darrell Darnell, senior associate vice president for safety and security, said. Survivors and third-parties can report incidents to GWPD, to the Title IX office and online through Haven.
The Colonial Health Center also features a trauma services coordinator to help support students who are survivors of sexual assault. The sexual assault response and consultation team (SARC) responds 24/7 to help victims of sexual assault online and at (202) 994-7222.
The university believes that higher number of sexual assault reports indicate that survivors are more willing to come forward than in the past. “We believe survivors feel more empowered to report these instances, and we have made it as accessible as we can for them to do so,” Mr. Darnell said.
The number of aggravated assaults reported on the Foggy Bottom Campus increased to 16 in 2016 from seven in 2015, and the number of reported robberies increased from 10 in 2015 to 34 in 2016, most of which were due to pickpocketing.
The number of reported motor vehicle thefts increased by four over the previous year to a total of six. The number of reported burglaries in 2016 was 10, or 20 fewer than were reported in the previous year.
The number of arrests for carrying or possessing a weapon increased to 16 from eight recorded arrests. The definition of a weapon in the report includes small knives and bullet casings. All of these incidents occurred on public property on campus, with a majority of them happening at the entrance to the Foggy Bottom Metro Station; none occurred in residence halls. The number of disciplinary referrals for carrying or possessing a weapon fell by more than half to 16. There were no arrests or disciplinary referrals on the Mount Vernon Campus for carrying or possession of a weapon in 2016, compared to one reported in 2015.
For drug law violations the number of arrests increased to 18 from seven, while the number of disciplinary referrals for drug law violations—individual cases sent to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities for disciplinary action—fell to 147 from 155. No students were arrested for liquor law violations on the Foggy Bottom Campus in 2016. Disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations increased by seven reports to 178.
On the Mount Vernon Campus, the number of disciplinary referrals for drug law violations fell to six from 21, and disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations decreased to three reports from eight in 2015.
Five hate crimes were reported in 2016, compared with three in 2015.
The report is available online.
