On Thursday, Sept. 20, the Trinity University Police Department released its legally mandated annual security report containing crime statistics from the previous academic year to the public.
The report is legally required as a result of the federal Jeanne Clery Act, formerly known as the Campus Security Act. Other provisions of the act require campus police agencies to maintain a public crime log and to disclose crime statistics.
Paul Chapa, TUPD chief of police, explained via email correspondence how TUPD meets the report’s October deadline.
“We compile our stats throughout the year on all reportable crimes,” Chapa said.
He continued to explain the crimes that TUPD focuses on.
“The two most important crimes that we monitor during the collection of our stats are burglary and theft,” Chapa said.
Reports of burglary climbed from 12 reported in 2010 to 19 burglaries in 2011.
Thefts declined, dropping from 64 to 53. Thefts are down “by almost 50 percent since 2009,” wrote Chapa in the incident report.
Alcohol-related violations referred by TUPD for university disciplinary action rose slightly from 75 to 92, with the vast majority of these violations taking place in residence halls. Alcohol-related violations referred by Residential Life staff dropped significantly, however, from 175 to 120.
Drug-related violations referred by TUPD remained relatively steady (from 23 to 15), and the number of violations referred by Residential Life rose slightly (13 to 20).
No instances of arson, robbery, rape, manslaughter or murder were reported last year.
“I truly believe we have one of the safest campuses in the country,” Chapa said.
A copy of the report may be accessed on Trinity University’s website, under the University Police Department directory.