Annual Security and Fire Safety Report released
The MIT Police Department released its Annual Security and Fire Safety Report Oct. 9. The report includes information about the Police Department’s operations, services, and resources, along with statistics regarding criminal and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) offenses, arrests and disciplinary referrals, hate crimes, and fire safety, from 2016 to 2018.
The total number of criminal offenses grew from 63 in 2016 to 92 in 2018. Contributing to this change was the increase in reports of burglary from 25 to 45 and the increase in reports of rape from 13 to 22. Inversely, reports of aggravated assault decreased from seven to three.
VAWA offenses also increased from 28 to 33 cases over the two years. While there was a decrease in reports of domestic violence from 13 to eight, stalking reports increased from eight in 2016 to 14 in 2017 to 18 in 2018. Dating violence offenses fell from seven to three from 2016 to 2017 but rose to seven again in 2018.
The majority of cases of rape, domestic violence, and dating violence occurred in campus residence halls. The report also lists on and off-campus resources for survivors of sexual assault, defines consent, and describes safety and reporting procedures to follow in the event of sexual assault.
For arrests and disciplinary referrals, there was a decrease from 2016 to 2018, with liquor law violations falling from 77 to 31 cases. In addition, drug abuse violations decreased from 11 to one from 2017 to 2018, and there were no weapons violations recorded in 2018.
No hate crime related to disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation was reported in 2017 and 2018.
The report also includes data on on-campus fires, which have decreased from three in 2017 to one in 2018.
Crime reports can be made to the MIT Police at (617)-253-1212 or anonymously at (617)-258-8477.