Discrepancies in sex-crime data explained by SEMO DPS

Editor's note: This is the first in an occasional series looking at sexual violence on college campuses and the way crimes are reported.

As national attention focuses on sexual violence among college students, differences in data reporting requirements and procedures can make it difficult to determine the extent of the problem, even when it is reported.

For instance, the federal Clery Act requires colleges and universities to submit a report to the Office of Postsecondary Education on sexual assault and other types of crimes involving students.

During a three-year period from 2010 through 2012, Southeast Missouri State University's Clery report showed nine sex offenses were reported, with all occurring in on-campus student housing.

During the same period, SEMO's Department of Public Safety reported only two such offenses to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which keeps crime data for law enforcement agencies statewide.

Doug Richards, director of the SEMO Department of Public Safety, said if a victim contacts DPS to report a sexual assault, that number goes into the department's annual report to the highway patrol.

"We have to have a victim ... who wants the police involved; otherwise, we can't investigate," Richards said.

Under the highway patrol's guidelines, law enforcement agencies report only the cases they investigate, he said.

"We have to have a victim come forward who wants police involved," Richards said. "Certain instances, for various different reasons, people don't want the police involved."

Additionally, if a crime occurs off campus, it falls outside the department's jurisdiction and would not be included in its report to the highway patrol.

Southeast's Clery report, however, must include all known sexual assaults involving students, even if they occur off-campus or do not result in a police report, Richards said.

In compiling the report, the university gathers data from counseling services, the campus judicial office, the athletic department or other offices that may hear of off-campus or other crimes, he said.

DPS also works closely with other local law enforcement agencies on crimes involving students, Richards said.

While other agencies do not keep rosters of Southeast students, if outside officers have reason to believe a suspect or victim is a student, they may contact the university, or SEMO officials may notice students' names on crime summaries from other departments, he said.

The gap between the Clery report and the highway patrol's report shows that during a three-year period, nine students reported sex offenses to some office on campus, but only two took their cases to DPS.

The reluctance of victims to report sexual violence has been the subject of intense scrutiny recently, with a U.S. Senate subcommittee releasing a report on the issue last week.

The report cited a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistic that indicates one in five female undergraduates has been a victim of attempted or completed sexual violence at some point during college.

Richards questioned the accuracy of that figure, noting the difficulty of compiling accurate data on information that isn't reported -- "How do you judge the unknown?"

"I can tell you I am sure there are some cases that are unreported," Richards said. " ... Reporting to the police, they almost feel like they've become a victim again."

Carson Kelley, associate director of the SEMO Department of Public Safety, said the department's connection with the university gives it an advantage over some law enforcement agencies in that Southeast has crisis counselors available 24 hours a day to help students.

Talking to a uniformed officer with a gun and a badge can be intimidating for a student who has just gone through a traumatic experience, Kelley said.

At SEMO, if a student walks in at 3 a.m. to report a violent crime, "you have a professional counselor that is able to assist us in gathering information, able to assist the victim in knowing what's going on," Kelley said.

The counselor can sit in on the victim's interview with police to make the experience less frightening, he said.

Even if victims decline to file a formal report, officers can help them by contacting a crisis counselor or referring them to campus or community resources that can help them deal with the aftermath of a crime, Richards said.

"Just because ... they tell us, 'We don't want a police report,' we don't push them back out the door and say, 'There's nothing we can do,'" he said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

1 University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, Mo.