Crimes reported in calendar year 2003 on property owned or controlled by UC Davis increased in five categories -- forcible sexual assaults, robbery and aggravated assault, burglary and arson, according to statistics prepared in compliance with the Clery Act.

Jennifer Beeman, director of the Campus Violence Prevention Program, said one reason the numbers are up is that more people are reporting violent crimes than did in the past. "For four years UC Davis has worked diligently to strengthen both awareness and victim-support services. This effort is paying off with an increase in reports," she said.

Also this year, UC Davis changed the way it compiles some Clery Act data to incorporate suggestions made by the California Bureau of State Audits. The audit said that reports of crime should be restricted to specific geographical areas at the medical center in Sacramento and the main campus in Davis. "Therefore, care needs to be exercised in comparing the reported 2002 and 2003 Clery statistics," said Robert Loessberg-Zahl, executive assistant vice chancellor at UC Davis.

Prepared in accordance with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, the 2003 report includes six categories of crimes against persons (murder/non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, forcible sex offenses, non-forcible sex offenses, aggravated assault and robbery) and three against property (arson, burglary and motor vehicle theft).

Here are data on specific crimes:

• The number of reported forcible sex offenses on university-affiliated property increased from 29 in 2002 to 34 in 2003. The majority of these offenses occurred in student residences.
• The number of reported aggravated assaults increased from 19 in 2002 to 37 in 2003. This was largely because in 2003, unlike the previous year, several attacks at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento had multiple victims.
• The number of reported robberies increased from 1 to 10. Three of the robberies took place at a Golden One bank office located on UC Davis property.
• Arson reports increased from six to eight. Two of the arsons occurred in remote areas (by the UC Davis landfill and aquatic weed lab), three occurred on campus, and three occurred at university buildings off the Davis campus.
• Burglary reports increased from 100 to 105.

In response to another recommendation of the Bureau of State Audits, the 2003 report used different methodology to count drug crimes, weapons crimes and motor-vehicle thefts. As a result, the numbers of those crimes declined.

The 2003 Clery report also shows that the number of student disciplinary referrals for weapons violations rose from two to 16. Beeman said the rise was largely due to an increase in seizures of guns used to fire paintballs or small plastic pellets; the guns are not allowed on campus.

The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to report statements of security policy and statistics for the specified crimes reported for defined locations on and adjacent to college campuses, the school's other properties and the properties of registered student organizations.

Clery statistics are compiled under substantially different reporting requirements than those imposed by the FBI for compiling statistics made public each spring. Many of these crimes were not reported to police or formally investigated by police to verify if a crime occurred. A substantial number of reports were received by non-police "campus security authorities" such as housing, counseling or judicial affairs staff. It is difficult to make direct comparisons between the Clery and FBI statistics.

"Clery Act reporting helps us identify the crimes and locations that need our attention," said Rita Spaur, assistant chief of the UC Davis Police Department. "We look at these statistics very carefully and adjust our resources in the best manner to reduce crime."

Clery Act data for 2003 is available at http://police.ucdavis.edu/.