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Michigan State releases crime statistics from 2017-18 academic year

October 3, 2018
<p>Michigan State University Police Department on Aug. 29, 2015. Courtney Kendler/The State News</p>

Michigan State University Police Department on Aug. 29, 2015. Courtney Kendler/The State News

Photo by Courtney Kendler | The State News

The Michigan State University Police Department (MSUPD) released the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report Oct. 1. The report states its goal is to provide full disclosure on campus crimes and statistics for the 2017-18 academic year.

The report's introduction acknowledges the sexual misconduct of ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, along with former Dean of MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine William Strampel. Strampel is not mentioned by name.

"MSU has responded in an unprecedented way. We have had an opportunity to reflect on the people, programs, and processes that offer prevention, education, support, and safety enforcement. While healing for survivors – and for the campus community – might come slowly, the university recognized that immediate and ongoing action is needed to improve policies, procedures and the culture surrounding relationship violence and sexual misconduct (RVSM) and its reporting," the report said. "MSU is renewing its efforts to provide a safe environment where all students feel protected, empowered, and aware of their rights and knowledgeable about available resources."

The report credits the MSU community's increase in being comfortable with reporting sexual misconduct with a nearly 600 percent increase in reports during the 2017-18 academic year compared to the 2014-15 academic year.

Under the criminal offenses section, MSUPD includes a note saying it is impossible to display the exact number of Nassar-related incidents, impacting the reports of rape and fondling.

These numbers comprise the rape and fondling statistics.

Reports which are unrelated to Nassar 

Rape: 15 on campus reports and 9 non-campus reports
Fondling: 11 on campus reports and 0 non-campus reports

Nassar-related reports for which the party reporting recalled the number of incidents

Rape: 9 on campus reports and 118 non-campus reports
Fondling: 1 on campus report and 5 non-campus reports

Nassar-related reports for which the party reporting could not recall the number of incidents

These reports are counted by number of parties reporting rather than number of incidents.

Rape: 2 on campus individuals reported and 25 non-campus individuals reported
Fondling: 2 on campus individuals reported and 7 non-campus individuals reported

Additional reports including other MSU affiliated campuses and properties are included in the report, along with the MSU Drug and Alcohol Policy and MSU Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct Policy.

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