Illegal weapon violations, car thefts and robberies declined last year on MSU's campus as burglaries, forced sex crimes and aggravated assaults rose slightly, according to the university's 2002 crime report released Wednesday.
The annual report showed crime last year declined 12 percent from 2001. Since community policing efforts began in 1987, overall crime has dropped by 38 percent, while felonies waned by 68 percent.
No murder, manslaughter or hate crimes were reported on campus in the past two years.
Characterizing the long-term decline as "dramatic," MSU police Chief Jim Dunlap said the trend won't continue indefinitely.
"The absence of crime is a nice thing to strive for, but it isn't realistic to think you'll ever get there," Dunlap said.
In January, an MSU student was threatened in his Case Hall dorm room by two men posing as charity solicitors. The victim's roommate struck one of the intruders, causing the knife to drop. The assailants ran to the exits and were never located.
No serious injuries were suffered during the assault, but the impact was extensive as the case focused scrutiny on security measures in MSU's residence halls.
Concerned parents called for a review of the university's safety practices.
University Housing Director Angela Brown said MSU officials responded by redesigning the residence halls night receptionist program, increasing police patrols and initiating a neighborhood watch program.
Lighting and camera systems also are being upgraded and the university is considering card-swiping systems for access to residence halls, she added.
"We have a whole list of things we are working on," Brown said.
But the university hasn't yet followed through with meaningful changes, Michael Martone, the father of the student assaulted in Case Hall said Wednesday.
"You can still walk into Case Hall up until midnight with no improved lighting on the interior or exterior," said Martone, who formed a parent group to consider security concerns after the attack.
"I still think it is a dangerous situation," said Martone, who hadn't seen the statistics released Wednesday.
Citing a recent MSU study on security at Big Ten universities, MSU Assistant Vice President JT. Forbes said "the perception of danger may not match the reality."
The study, compiled in light of the Case Hall assault, showed that MSU ranks among the most safe in the Big Ten, with 65 felony crimes per 1,000 dorm residents based on the FBI's 2001 Uniform Crime Report. Purdue and Penn State reported less felony crime that year.
"Yes, there is crime on this campus, but relative to the study, we are very safe," Forbes said.
MSU officials disclose the campus crime report yearly because of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
After Clery was murdered at Lehigh University in 1986, her parents, Constance and Howard K. Clery Jr., founded Security On Campus, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based, non-profit organization that lobbies for transparency in campus crime statistics.
Federal lawmakers authorized the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 that requires universities to make crime statistics public.
"What a lot of colleges were doing was downgrading the types of felonies into innocuous crimes, particularly rape," Howard K. Clery Jr. said Wednesday.
"The last thing they want to say is eight girls have been sexually assaulted or raped on campus."
While some university administrators have neglected their responsibilities in crime reporting, he said MSU police officials historically have appropriately documented campus incidents.
"If you sleep there, they have an enormous responsibility to protect you," Clery said. "We know that Michigan State spends a good amount of money and has a proficient police force."
Dunlap described MSU's statistics being "as accurate as humanly possible."
"Anything that we investigate that comes into us, we release and report in our statistics," he said. "We are not looking to hide."
