Rape cases on the Tempe campus more than doubled in 2019, while most other crimes showed less change, according to ASU’s annual crime statistics report, which was published by the University Friday.
The report analyzes crimes that took place in 2019 and shows overall reported crimes across all of ASU’s campuses have risen from 2018, in contrast to a drop in around 450 crimes from 2017 to 2018.
Reported crimes increased from just over 1,350 in 2018 to nearly 1,680 in 2019.
There were just over 1,420 reported crimes in 2019 on the Tempe campus, an increase of over 200 from 2018 which had about 1,200 reported crimes.
There was a significant decrease in alcohol arrests on the Tempe campus in 2019, but many more alcohol referrals than in 2018.
“ASU maintains its commitment to battling complex social problems, such as sexual assault, sexual harassment and drug and alcohol abuse,” said Morgan R. Olsen, ASU executive vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer in an email announcing the report. “ASU remains devoted to prevention and education strategies while making resources readily available to those affected.”
Violent Crimes
ASU's Tempe campus had an increase in rape reports from 10 in 2018 to 23 in 2019. All of the 2019 cases were on-campus, and 21 of those cases were in on-campus student housing.
There was one rape report on the Downtown Phoenix campus in 2019, a decrease of three from 2018. There was also one rape report on the Polytechnic campus, an increase from zero in 2018. The West campus had two rape reports, one more than in 2018.
There were nine reports of aggravated assault total in 2019, three more than in 2018.
The four main campuses had 23 reports of fondling, an increase from 14 in 2018.
There were no manslaughter or murder cases, which is the same as the last three years.
Theft
While reported burglaries at the Tempe campus had nearly doubled from 2017 to 2018, the 2019 report showed only 21 burglaries in Tempe, a decrease from 41 in 2018.
Burglaries at the Downtown Phoenix campus increased from two in 2018 to 10 in 2019. Robberies on the Downtown Phoenix campus also increased from one to three and motor vehicle theft reduced from two to one.
Robberies at West and Polytechnic campuses remained at zero, but burglaries at West increased from one to seven in 2019 and motor vehicle theft increased from zero to three at Polytechnic.
Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking
On the Tempe campus, reports of dating violence, domestic violence and stalking decreased to 31 total from 41 total in 2018.
There were nine reports of dating violence, domestic violence and stalking on the other three main campuses, which is an increase from eight 2018.
The Polytechnic campus, however, had zero of those reports in comparison to three reports of domestic violence and one report of stalking in 2018.
Drugs and Alcohol
On the Tempe campus, drug and alcohol arrests fell from a combined 536 to 247 in 2019. In that same period, drug and alcohol referrals increased to a combined 1,061 from 744 in 2018.
Polytechnic also showed a decrease in alcohol and drug arrests and an increase in referrals, decreasing from 14 to three and increasing from eight to 35, respectively.
Collective drug and alcohol arrests at the Downtown Phoenix campus jumped to 55 in 2019 from 34 in 2018, and collective drug and alcohol referrals also increased to 83 from 45.
Arrests and referrals for drugs and alcohol have remained fairly constant at West campus for the past three years.
Other Notable Statistics
Both 2018 and 2019 showed zero reports of hate crimes, but in 2017, the Tempe campus had two hate crimes described as "on-campus intimidation incidents characterized by religious bias."
A new campus, the School of Social Work in Tucson, was added to the crime report in 2020 and had zero reported crimes.
Neither the Barrett and O'Connor Washington Center campus nor the California Center campus had any reported crimes.
The Lake Havasu campus only reported three crimes, all of which were drug referrals.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the year in which the hate crimes occurred. The article has been updated to reflect the change.
Reach the reporter at gforslun@asu.edu and on Twitter @GretaForslund.
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