Crime numbers went up for ASU's four valley campuses in 2022 with 1,799 crimes and referrals reported overall, mainly driven by a large spike in Tempe, according to ASU's 2023 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, published last Thursday.
Last year's report showed a total of 1,516 crimes across its four main campuses in the valley.
For the purposes of this article, aggregate crime includes criminal offenses, Violence Against Women Act offenses, and arrests and referrals related to drugs, alcohol and weapons.
Aggregate crime, including drug and alcohol offenses and referrals, increased by about 19% from 2021 to 2022 across the four campuses.
As mandated by federal law and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or the Clery Act, the University releases a report every year with detailed procedures for handling and recording crime.
Morgan Olsen, executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of the University, said in an email upon the release of the report that ASU places emphasis on battling sexual assault, sexual harassment and drug and alcohol abuse and providing resources to victims.
While some of the increase in crime can be attributed to the reclassification of electric scooters as motor vehicles, there were significant increases in drug and alcohol-related offenses as well as assault-related offenses.
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Tempe
The Tempe campus reported a total of 1,609 crimes and referrals for 2022 – about a 26% increase in the measure from 2021.
Reports of rape decreased from 24 in 2021 to 19 in 2022, with reports of fondling also decreasing. Reports of dating violence increased to from six to nine instances in 2022 while reports of stalking decreased slightly from 2021 from 19 to 14 instances.
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Reports of aggravated assault increased by about 86% in 2022 to a total of 13 instances, reflecting a continually upward trend since 2020. Burglary in Tempe increased by 21 instances.
There were 265 reports of motor vehicle theft in 2022, a massive increase from 15 in 2021, but this is due to the reclassification of electric scooters as motor vehicles.
Arrests for drugs increased by 33% from 2021 to a total of 56 instances in 2022. This increase is notable, but nowhere near the 196 arrests made by ASU PD in 2020. Arrests for alcohol increased by 126% in 2022 to 135 instances, over double the 60 arrests made in 2021.
Downtown Phoenix
The Downtown Phoenix campus reported a total of 130 crimes and referrals in 2022 – about a 14% decrease in overall crime from 2021.
Reports of rape increased from one instance in 2021 to seven in 2022, and burglary decreased from five instances in 2021 to two in 2022. After decreasing in 2021 from 2020, arrests made for drug incidents increased to 20 in 2022, a 54% increase from 2021.
While ASU PD only made one arrest for alcohol in 2022, it made 89 referrals for alcohol, continuing an upward trend since 2020. All referrals were made from on-campus housing.
Motor vehicle theft numbers jumped from zero instances to eight, again mainly due to the reclassification of electric scooters.
West
The West campus reported a total of 24 crimes in 2022 – slightly less than half of the 52 crimes reported in 2021.There was one report of rape and one report of fondling in 2022. In 2021, there were no reports of either crime.
Reports of aggravated assault fell from two instances in 2021 to zero in 2022.
No arrests were made for alcohol in 2022, but there were eight arrests made for drugs – an increase from one arrest made in 2021. Referrals for drugs fell slightly while referrals for alcohol fell from 41 in 2021 to seven in 2022.
Polytechnic
The Polytechnic campus reported a total of 36 crimes in 2022 – a 10% decrease from 40 crimes reported in 2021.
There was one instance of rape and no instances of fondling in 2022. There were also no reports of aggravated assault, burglary or motor vehicle theft in 2022.
No arrests were made for drugs or alcohol in 2022, but referrals for drugs and alcohol in 2022 remained steady with previous years at seven and 26 referrals, respectively.
Other campuses
The University's Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Tucson and Lake Havasu campuses reported no crime in 2022, similar to both the 2021 and 2020 Clery Report. None of the aforementioned out-of-Valley campuses have on-campus student housing.
Edited by Shane Brennan, Jasmine Kabiri and Grace Copperthite.
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