More rapes were reported last year on Stony Brook University’s campus than in any previous year since 2006, according to a security report released by the University Police Department last month.
The 17 incidents in 2012 are nearly double the seven reported in 2010.
UPD Assistant Chief of Patrol Eric Olsen said the victim in every reported case knew the assailant and that alcohol was involved in most cases.
He suggested the higher number was not a sign of a more dangerous campus, but that victims are becoming more willing to report sexual assault. “We always encourage people to report that crime,” he said.
The Statesman was also able to obtain data for as far back as 2006: 10 rapes were reported in 2006, five in 2007, four in 2008, five in 2009, seven in 2010 and 13 in 2011.
Though the UPD is taking no new action to address the increased reports, it hosts a Rape Aggression Defense class that is part of a national program started in 1989.
Other numbers from the document show a decrease in reports of robbery, assault, burglary, car theft and arson, and a fluctuation in liquor, drug and weapons-related arrests and referrals. Olsen said some of the decreased numbers could be a result of a partnership with campus residences.
“We’ve increased patrols over thanksgiving break and we’ve worked well with campus residences to improve the community,” he said.
The most common offenses on campus are liquor violations, followed by drug violations, burglary and rape.
The crime statistics for 2012 are available on the UPD website listed as the 2013 Clery Annual Security Report—a report all college campuses receiving money from the federal government are required to release by the Clery Act.
The Clery Act was passed in 1990 after Jeanne Clery, a freshman at Lehigh University, was raped and killed in her dorm in 1986. The backlash against unreported crime on college campuses led to the passage of the law, which requires universities to release a crime report every October, maintain a crime log of the past 60 days and warn the community of crimes that threaten the safety students or employees.
Southampton, Manhattan and Korea reported no crimes on their campuses in 2012.
