Overall crime at Sacramento State has generally stayed the same while the number of arrests has decreased, according to the Campus Security annual report. The report, part of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crimes Statistics Act, was released by the Public Safety Department and University Police earlier this month. The act is part of a federal law that requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose crime on and around their campuses, according to the University Police website. Crime statistics are divided into nine different categories, including negligent and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible and non-forcible sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson and hate crimes. For the third year in a row, the number of reported aggravated assaults decreased, from 11 in 2005 to only seven in 2006, down 36 percent. The number of burglaries decreased by 29 percent, from 62 in 2005 to 44 last year. Some crimes that increased since 2005 are robbery and vehicle theft. The number of reported robberies more than doubled over the past year, from six incidents in 2005 to 13 incidents in 2006. The crime that increased the most was motor vehicle theft. There were 58 incidents in 2006, up from 33 in 2005, a difference of about 76 percent. There were nine reported incidents of forcible sex offenses in 2006, up from six in 2005. There was also one reported non-forcible sex offense, compared to zero incidents the previous two years. There was one report of arson and four reported hate crimes. There were no reported incidents of manslaughter. The annual report includes crimes that occur on or around campus, including residence halls, non-campus property and public property. The number of arrests in 2006 was about 20 percent lower than in previous years. There were 44 arrests last year, down from 55 in 2005 54 in 2004. Arrest totals include liquor, drug and weapons violations.

The “Clery Act” is named in memory of 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman Jeanne Clery who was raped and murdered while asleep in her residence hall room on April 5, 1986.

Jeanne’s parents, Connie and Howard Clery, discovered that students hadn’t been told about 38 violent crimes on the Lehigh campus in the three years before her murder. They joined with other campus crime victims and persuaded Congress to enact this law, which was originally known as the “Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990,” according to the campus police website.

The law was amended in 1998 to expand the reporting requirements and also formally named the law in memory of Jeanne Clery.

The entire report can be viewed at the university police website at http://www.csus.edu/police/cleryact.stm

Michael Calvillo can be reached at [email protected]