Campus Crime Report: More crimes being reported at North TX campuses

Sex-related crime reports increased at the University of North Texas and Texas Women's University this past year, according to recently released Clery Act data. The federal Clery Act requires colleges and universities to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses. Previously, sex crimes were listed as “forcible” or “non-forcible.” Now, new and more precise reporting requirements categorize sex crimes as rape, fondling, incest or statutory rape, Interim UNT Police Chief Ed Reynolds said. According to the Clery Center, a new amendment to the Clery Act also added stalking, domestic violence and dating violence data to the information collected.



At UNT, 12 rapes were reported in 2014, and 11 of those took place in student housing, police said. That compares to seven rapes reported on campus in 2013.The recently released data also includes non-police reports, Reynolds said. Eight of UNT’s 12 reported rapes in 2014 came from security sources such as resident assistants in dormitories, he said.



Chief Reynolds said he believes national awareness and education have spurred more victims to report sexual assaults to authorities, rather than stay silent. Reynolds said the new reporting requirements present a clearer picture of campus crime.
Dean of Students Maureen “Moe” McGuinness said UNT has ramped up education about sex crimes on campus, making students feel more comfortable in distinguishing between consensual sex and sex crimes. She said her office hears from students about sex-related crimes — recent cases as well as incidents from childhood.
“I would definitely attribute an increase in numbers to awareness and education,” she said.
In each of the 12 rape cases, an acquaintance of the victim was the alleged perpetrator, Chief Reynolds said. He described UNT as a “city within a city.” If no sexual crimes were reported, that would raise an eyebrow, he said. This reflects similar situations on most large college campuses.



At Texas Woman’s University. six reports of stalking were reported on campus in 2014.
Elizabeth Pauley, TWU’s director of public safety, also attributed the increase in reported crimes to the new federal reporting requirements.
“If there was an inkling that a report could have been stalking, we reported it. It’s better to over-report than under-report,” Pauley said.
One rape was reported on campus in 2014, and it was not a case of stranger rape, she said.
Drug arrests at TWU slightly increased this past year, but Pauley said those resulted mainly from parties where “students tried their wings” early in the semester.
“College kids are college kids,” she said. “We are going to enforce the law.”



Meanwhile, Students at both university campuses (located in Denton, TX) said they feel safe despite knowing rapes, aggravated assaults and burglaries have happened in the past year.



Rebecca Montoya, president of TWU’s Student Government Association, said she feels safe and thinks most other people do as well. Some students have expressed concern about poor lighting in some areas around campus, she said.
She also noted that the emergency poles on campus, with buttons to call police if a student is scared, in danger or wants a police escort, make her feel more safe.
“I think it has a lot to do with having (campus police) on site, and you always see them driving around, and we have the emergency poles,” she said. “I feel like it’s been really safe, and you don’t hear about much violence like you do at a lot of other campuses.”



More than 34,000 students are enrolled at UNT, and currently more than 11,500 students are enrolled at TWU, according to fall statistics. http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20151002-12-rape-reports-at-unt-in-2014.ece