The numbers of reported burglaries and forcible sex offenses on Ball State University's campus have significantly increased, according to university officials.
According to the Crime Statistics and Annual Security Report, which Ball State released Friday, the number of reported sex offenses on Ball State University's campus increased to 11 in 2006 after one incident was reported in 2005 and five were reported in 2004. Eight of the 11 reported sex offenses in 2006 were in residence halls.
The number of burglaries more than doubled, jumping from 28 reported incidents in 2005 to 58 in 2006. Out of the 58 burglaries, 40 were committed in residence halls, according to the report.
David Fried, director of students rights and community standards, said Ball State provided the reports to the public to comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act.
The university collected information from the Ball State Police Department, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, the Amelia T. Wood Student Health Center and other departments to compile the report, Fried said. Ball State has done this every year since the Clery Act was created in 1990, he said.
-- SEX OFFENSES --
Gene Burton, director of public safety, said the number of reported sex offenses does not necessarily reflect an increase in crime, but it shows students are reporting sex offenses more often than in the past.
Burton said the increase in reported sex offenses correlates to the creation of Victim Services, which began in 2006 to help sexual assault victims.
"I think some people have been involved in that kind of incident in the past and did not know where to go," Burton said. "You can't say that increased education and awareness is a bad thing. With sex offenses, it's widely believed they are the most under reported crimes."
June Payne, director of counseling and health services, agreed that the presence of a victim advocate on Ball State's campus has helped sex offense victims report the crimes.
"It doesn't mean that numbers of incidents are increasing," Payne said. "It means with the support of a victim advocate, people are more willing to report these criminal actions."
Ball State hired a victim advocate in March 2006, Payne said.
"Before that time, unfortunately, we didn't have anyone available in the entire city," she said. "If a woman was raped and went to the hospital, there was no one responding."
-- BURGLARIES --
Burton said he did not know why there was an increase in reported on-campus burglaries in 2006, but the Ball State police will analyze the data and decide how to correct the problem.
"I wish I had an answer for it," Burton said. "There's some times where we get a year where we just have more reported crimes of one type. I don't know if there's a reason why our criminals pick one kind of crime a year to hit us with. We'll have to look at the burglaries and figure out why this is happening. This could be because of the economy or some other factor that is outside our control."
Burton said the increase in burglaries is a break in a downward trend.
The Ball State police began cracking down on thefts after the university received a high of 426 reported thefts in 2001, Burton said. Since then, the number of reported thefts has steadily declined every year, he said.
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