Public Safety released its Annual Security and Fire Safety Report last week and if there’s one statistic that caught Steve Bequette off-guard, it’s the data reflecting sex offenses, he said.

Under federal law, universities are required to publish a report that highlights crimes over the past three years.

In 2012, six forcible sex offenses were reported.

According to this year’s report, there were none in 2013.

“We kind of knew that (number) would draw some eyebrows up and down,” said Bequette, Public Safety assistant director.

“Other than that, (nothing else was a surprise),” he said. “Our property crimes are staying consistent. We do a really good job of visibility and from years past, we feel that the burglary rates are way down.”

According to the report, disciplinary actions regarding liquor law violations are also way down, dropping 60.6 percent since 2011. In the same timeframe, however, disciplinary actions regarding drug law violations rose 66.7 percent.

Although Public Safety does not have an accurate read on why an upward trend in drug violations is occurring, Bequette said one “good indicator” for it is that people in housing are reporting it more.

“We assist housing in their training by providing them hands on training on what drugs look like, what to do if you see this or that, the smell of marijuana versus what other drugs look like,” he said. “The education has (either) remained constant or increased.”

Public Safety does not have an accurate reading as to why a downward trend of liquor law violations is occurring either, Bequette said.

“Maybe we just have less,” he said. “Maybe the people have taken it off campus more, and/or it’s related to the drug use – their drug of choice has changed from alcohol to drugs. There’s probably a variety of explanations.”

Going forward, the federal government is requiring a few additions to the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.

The new additions require the university to add, “national origin and gender crimes, dating violence (and) domestic violence type situations,” to the report, Bequette said.

Public Safety has kept track of these crimes over the years, but they were not reportable under the Clery Act, he said.

“There are other things that have changed for this year, such as new (federal) definitions for ‘rape’ and ‘burglary,’” Bequette said. “There was some additions about making sure that you’re clear in your policies and as to what your jurisdiction is and how it overlaps with local law enforcement.”

Universities are now required to monitor off campus, or “non-campus,” crimes by students, specifically those that might involve social or fraternal organizations – something Public Safety has already been doing as well, Bequette said.

“We have a really good liaison with local law enforcement, plus public record gives us a lot of good information as to who gets arrested everyday,” he said.

After reviewing the data in the report, Public Safety made, and will continue to make, an emphasis on promoting the reporting of crimes on and off campus, Bequette said.

“One of the things we’ve done is to promote reporting, and that was one thing we had to do in this year’s report – make sure that we really stressed prompt crime reporting and to make people be aware of if something happens on campus, you need to report it,” he said.

Public Safety has made reporting crimes more “user friendly” as well, he said, specifically when reporting sexual assaults.

“We give (those who report the crime) the confidentiality option if they don’t want their names used or no investigation, but they can still report it,” Bequette said. “That way we can still be involved with giving them resources to help them cope with what’s going on. It also gives us an idea that something did occur here on campus and if we have to take appropriate safety precautions to deal with whatever. We can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on.”

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available to everyone on Public Safety’s website. Hard copies are also available at the Office of Public Safety, located near the Liberal Arts Center.