Toreros react to crime statistics released by DPS

Lili Kim/Ass. News Editor 

TW: This article mentions sensitive topics such as rape, sexual assault and dating violence. 

The USD Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently released the 2023 Fire and Safety Report with safety statistics and policies from 2020 through 2022. This report is sent out annually to campus community members in order to inform, advise and facilitate open conversations about how to keep USD as safe as possible. 

In the report’s introduction, Assistant Vice President and Chief of Public Safety James Miyashiro stated, “our primary goal is to ensure that our campus remains free from criminal activity and disorder, allowing each member of our community to focus on their educational pursuits without distractions.” 

The Department of Public Safety applies its values of service, commitment to integrity and respect for people in all aspects of campus involvement. DPS main concern is the immediate safety of students,    faculty and staff, and will respond to any emergency (619) 260-2222 and non-emergency (619) 260-7777 calls. When not responding to calls, officers patrol campus, manage security technology and provide safety education among countless other jobs to keep the community safe. 

Besides statistics for previous years, the 2023 Fire and Safety Report outlines all safety measures the university has set in place. These include emergency response tools, such as the 178 emergency phones around campus, as well as safety awareness programs, such as sexual assault awareness and self-defense classes. More information about these programs can be found by contacting DSP or visiting www.sandiego.edu/safety. 

Also summarized in the report are emergency response and evacuation procedures, university policies on timely warning and emergency notification, an explanation of access to campus buildings and facilities and how USD responds to reports of sexual violence and assault with disciplinary measures. 

According to the report, in 2022 there were eight reports of rape, two fondlings, four aggravated assaults, 13 burglaries, 14 motor vehicle thefts, four cases of dating violence and eight accounts of dating violence and stalking. 

DPS also disclosed the liquor and drug law violations, stating 165 total community member violations. The 2022 and 2021 reports resulted in similar statistics, with the exception of motor vehicle thefts jumping from three in 2021 to 13 in 2022. 

These statistics are based on reported criminal offenses, and do not take into account offenses that were not reported or disclosed to the Department of Public Safety. 

DPS urges students to report any incident, whether personal or not, in order to allow officers to respond and continue keeping the community safe. 

USD is situated near other public and private universities, which create similar annual safety and fire reports. For example, Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) also created a table of statistics in their 2023 report of criminal and noncriminal offenses. PLNU had two reports of rape, zero for fondling, zero robberies, zero aggravated assaults, one burglary, two motor vehicle thefts and 46 liquor and drug law violations. It should be noted that PLNU has 4,445 total students, compared to USD’s total of 9,110 students. 

Another university near USD  is San Diego State University (SDSU). As a public institution, SDSU has a total enrollment of 36,484 students: four times the size of USD. In its crime statistics for 2022, there were 12 reports of rape, 16 fondlings, five robberies, six aggravated assaults, 50 burglaries, 11 motor vehicle thefts, four domestic violence reports and 934 referalls for disciplinary action and arrests for liquor and drug law violations. 

Some USD students were surprised upon hearing about the USD safety statistics, Like USD senior Parker Brei. 

“It’s    crazy to hear it lined up and  put on paper, because you don’t hear about it [discussed] socially.” 

Other students, such as USD junior Annie McGee, expected the statistics to reveal higher numbers. 

“I think there are a lot of [incidents] that aren’t reported and included in the statistics,” McGee said. 

While it is possible for these statistics to cause concern, they also remind the community of Public Safety’s commitment  to safety and service. 

USD junior Marissa Schaad explained, “when I lived on campus, I always felt P-Safe’s presence, even on the weekends.”

The   release of the annual Safety and Fire Report offers a reminder to all community members to stay alert and always report any suspicious behavior to Public Safety via phone call or in person at the Hughes Administration building, Room 150.