Motor vehicle theft, burglary and arrests for drug laws on campus have increased significantly in 2015, according to the 2016 Annual Security and Fire Report.
The report, which the University sends out annually in accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, shows the number of reported crimes in a variety of categories over the last three years.
The Clery Center for Security on Campus, a non-profit organization which aims to make college campuses safer, summarized the act as “a consumer protection law passed in 1990, [which] requires all colleges and universities who receive federal funding to share information about crime on campus and their efforts to improve campus safety as well as inform the public of crime in or around campus.”
According to the report, burglary increased from 53 reported cases in 2014 to 70 in 2015. The difference between 2013 and 2014 was minor, only increasing from 51 cases in 2014.
The majority of the on-campus burglaries in 2015 occurred in residential facilities. No burglaries were reported from non-campus or public property.
Motor vehicle theft did not change between 2013 and 2014, remaining at six cases. That number grew to 27 reported instances for 2015, with only one report stemming from a non-campus location.
On-campus arrests for drug laws more than doubled between 2014 and 2015, jumping from 56 to 122. In 2013, there were 47 on-campus arrests for drug laws.
Arrests for liquor laws and weapons laws also grew in 2015, though not by as large of a margin. Between 2014 and 2015, on-campus liquor law arrests went from 167 to 175 reported cases. In 2014, there were no on-campus weapons law arrests, though there were nine in 2015.
Reported cases of stalking also rose in 2015, climbing up to 16. There were nine cases in 2014, a decrease from the 15 in 2013.
Two other criminal offense categories increased from 2014 to 2015 – non-forcible sex offenses and domestic violence. There were two cases of non-forcible sex offenses on campus in 2015, compared to only one in 2014. Nine cases of domestic violence were reported on campus in 2015, a small increase from the seven in 2014. There were no reported cases of either crime on campus in 2013.
Four categories saw slight decreases between 2014 and 2015 – forcible sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault and dating violence. The number of reported arson crimes stayed at one case between 2014 and 2015, and there have been no reported cases of murder, non-negligent manslaughter or negligent manslaughter.
The University’s report and a broadcast email highlighted several of its safety programs, including the LSU Shield app, Campus Transit and call boxes.
“The safety of our students, faculty, staff and visitors is LSU’s top priority, and campus safety is a shared responsibility,” the email said. “We urge the campus community to be vigilant and report anything of concern to LSU Police in a timely manner.”