A recently released report by the Department of Education
confirmed allegations made in 2000 that the University of
California underreported crimes on UC campuses for that year.
The two-year study, which was completed on March 31, also
indicated the UC has since altered its methods significantly so
crime figures are now correctly compiled and submitted in
accordance with federal law.
UCLA was one of three campuses whose crime reporting practices
were audited specifically for the year 2000; UC Davis and UCSD were
also closely examined.
But Nancy Greenstein, UCPD director of community services, said
UCLA was not one of the campuses believed to be underreporting
crimes.
“Two Department of Education staff members visited us last
summer and went over our 2000 report to make sure it met
stipulations,” she said. “They found we were in
compliance all along.”
Initial concerns that UC campuses were withholding crime numbers
were raised in late 2000 by Security on Campus Inc., a national
non-profit organization dealing with college campus security.
Executive Director Howard Cleary III said the complaint had been
lodged after actual assault victims from UCs warned the
organization that crimes were not being accurately reported.
At the same time, the Sacramento Bee published a series of
stories documenting the apparent discrepancy between the number of
sexual assaults occurring on campuses and those being reported by
the UC.
The articles suggested UC campuses were not including rapes or
assaults reported to university officials other than police in
their crime figures.
In accordance with the Clery Act of 1998, all universities
receiving federal aid are required to release statistics for crimes
reported not only to campus police but also to athletic directors,
the dean of students and other university officials.
Charles McFadden, a press aide for the UC, said crimes had not
been misreported. Rather, they had been miscategorized by
administrators confused about the complexities of the law.
“Administrators reporting figures have to deal with state,
FBI and federal definitions of what a crime is,” he said.
“This is a very complex federal law.”
Cleary said many schools reviewed by the Department of Education
usually encountered noncompliance problems regarding crime
reporting.
While he conceded this may often occur due to misunderstanding
regarding the complex terms of the law, he also suggested campuses
leave out statistics because they create bad publicity.
“Higher crime rates hurt enrollment and endowment for
colleges,” he said. “For all schools, there is
incentive to hide certain crimes, especially violent
crimes.”
He said that some university administrations will attempt to
dissuade rape victims from filing reports by threatening to press
minor in possession of alcohol charges.
In the meantime, McFadden said the UC had taken several steps to
rectify the misreporting.
A task force was appointed to see how the process of reporting
statistics could be brought into compliance with Clery Act
requirements. It also determined who exactly was responsible for
reporting crimes along with the campus police departments.
“Our current compliance is a national model,”
McFadden said.