Three weeks ago, NYU launched its Annual Fire and Safety Report 2024documenting an increase in robbery, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft in the past year. The report records a set of 20 federally designated crimes — however, 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 receiving federal financial aid are required to disclose any incidents that may have caused “bodily injury,” as well as robbery and stalking, as well as violations of gun, drug, and liquor laws alcoholic. and around campus. But based on NYU’s 2023 Daily Crime Log, the two most common crimes on campus are not included in its annual report.

Petty theft and sexual harassment accounted for 37 percent and 18 percent, respectively, of the total 1,405 incidents recorded in the crime log in 2023. In an interview with WSN, Dennis Gregory, a leading Clery Act researcher and professor associate of higher education at Old Dominion University in Virginia said that while the universities are not to blame for the discrepancies, they could benefit from understating 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 the kinds of things that could be great crime prevention.”

Federal law also limits the reported area to one area, namely university facilities and their “reasonably contiguous” areas. As an urban university that blends into the city, NYU has drawn a boundary that narrowly encircles Washington Square Park. From last academic year, only 17% of the cases documented in the security report occurred outside of a campus building.

Some experts have suggested that universities keep track of crimes 500 meters off campus and a Department of Education Handbook recommend a kilometer. However, when it comes to practice, rarely has a university gone beyond the campus area. Samara Richards, a senior at the Silver School of Social Work, told WSN that she believes the university should expand its boundaries to include dormitories further from the central campus, particularly those in Union Square and other areas with MTA stations.

Richards also said she believed the safety report’s omission of smaller-scale crimes documented in the daily log resulted in an underrepresentation of the day-to-day concerns of students.

“I feel they should be reported,” Richards said. “It’s actually incredible 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, which means it only records incidents reported by members of the community. Once crimes are reported to the department, the university rarely invokes further action. Limited to a New York State security guard license, Campus Safety has no jurisdiction to enforce the law – in the event of a crime, officers will either refer the case to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, the Title IX office, or New York City. City Police Department.

The university did not respond to requests for comment.

Contact Simon Tan at (email protected).