by Jake Hyslop
Cal Poly Humboldt made its annual Security Report under The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act public. The report details crime statistics that have occurred during the past three years, from 2020 to 2022.
The Jeanne Clery Act was signed into law in 1990. The act is a consumer protection law meant to provide transparency to the public around campus crime policy and statistics. Nicki Viso became the Clery Director in February 2022, heading up the Clery Compliance Team which is composed of representatives from many Cal Poly Humboldt departments.
The crimes reported are sorted into four categories based on where they happened. These include reported incidents on the general campus, on campus residencies, non-campus locations affiliated with the school, and public property near or adjacent to the campus.
There were no hate crimes reported during the three year stretch of 2020 to 2022 in the report. While there were no reports of murder or non-negligent and negligent manslaughter, there was a large increase in rape cases, from two incidents in 2021 to 11 in 2022. There were also increases in incidences of fondling, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, arson, and other crimes. Some were small increases (like robbery from zero to one case) and some were larger (like weapons law violations from three to seven).
The Clery Compliance Team noted these increases in the report. August 2022 was the point that campus opened fully, with an increase of people on campus and returning to in-person classes as the reasons. Another change the team cited was that Comfort Inn in Arcata, currently housing students, was included and classified under “Non-campus Property.”
It’s important to clarify that any allegation that fits the criteria of a specific crime and occurs within the geographical locations specified by the Clery report are included. Not every crime statistic included in the report is proof that a crime definitively happened. Furthermore, crimes are recorded under the year they’re reported, even if they occurred a previous year.
The Clery Act Report is available on Cal Poly Humboldt’s Clery Act Compliance webpage, as well as information to help understand it.
