The Department of Public Safety’s latest Security and Fire Safety Report reveals marked differences in on-campus criminal activity since 2014, including a drastic increase in student violations of liquor law and a smaller increase in burglaries.
The report is compiled using data from Public Safety, the Middlebury Police Department and other law enforcement agencies, in accordance with the 1990 Clery Act. The Act requires all colleges receiving federal funding to publicize annual security reports covering four categories over three years: arrests and referrals for disciplinary action, criminal offenses such as burglary and rape, domestic and dating violence and hate crimes.
This year’s report, released on Oct. 1, reveals a 500 percent increase in referrals given for liquor law violations since 2014. The report defines liquor law violations as “the violation of state or local laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, or use of alcoholic beverages; transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor (i.e. under the age of 21).” Students received 115 citations for alcohol in 2014, but this number rose to 672 citations in 2015 and 595 in 2016. In 2015 and 2016, Middlebury had no arrests for liquor violations, and had no arrests or referrals for drug violations.
More on-campus burglaries were also documented in the 2017 report, jumping from eleven reported burglaries in 2014 to eighteen reported in 2016. Burglary is defined as “the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft,” and is distinct from robbery in that burglary does not involve physical intimidation. No known robberies took place on campus property between 2014 and 2016.
2016 saw fewer fires than previous years. Four fires occurred in residential buildings in 2016, compared to nine in 2014 and ten in 2015. The significant drop can be attributed to normal fluctuation, however, since residential fire counts have ranged between two and twelve since 2012.
Eight rapes were reported in 2016, down from 21 reported in 2015. Reports of dating violence remained steady, with six incidents reported per year. For further analysis of the data related to sexual assault, refer here.
No hate crimes were reported between 2014 and 2016.
