June 23, 2005
UW Police: Campus crime dropped again in 2004
Crimes against people and property on campus dropped significantly from 2003 to 2004, according to the annual crime report released by the UW Police Department. The statistics provided in the annual report come from data submitted to the FBI for the national Uniform Crime Report.
Instances of larceny, assault and auto theft were fewer in 2004 than the year before, though the number of bicycle thefts — the bane of any school campus — increased. Crimes against persons or property are called Part 1 crimes by law enforcement, while infractions outside those definitions are called Part 2 crimes.
“It’s important to note that the total of Part 1 crimes is the lowest ever since we’ve begun keeping records,” said UW Police Chief Vicky Stormo. “This occurs at a time when crime generally in Seattle has increased.”
Larcenies dropped for each of the last two years, with 827 reported in 2002 and 758 in 2003, followed by a 23 percent drop to 584 in 2004.
Auto thefts also were fewer in 2004, with 35 thefts or attempted thefts reported in 2004 compared with 54 in 2003. Totaled together, all Part 1 crimes — including rape, robbery, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft — were down 22 percent from 2003 to 2004.
There were no murders or rapes reported, and eight robberies reported on campus in 2004. In 2003, there were two reported rapes, three robberies and no murders.
The largest increase in reported Part 1 crimes was in bicycle thefts, which spiked from 93 to 170 in the last year, an increase of about 81 percent.
In all, arrests also rose, from 307 to 368. Stormo stressed that most arrests are not of faculty, staff or students — the total includes all arrests made by UW Police, whether they occurred on campus or off.
Police say that to combat the increase in bike thefts, they’ll undertake a more aggressive campaign to have riders register their bikes with police and to affix a registration sticker on the bike.
Last year, the department received just one formal citizen complaint. Stormo attributed this low number in part to the installation of cameras in all police cars.
The UW Police Department recently underwent an extensive review to be granted national accreditation. The evaluation looked at facilities, policies, procedures and performance, and included a site visit. Results of that review process will be issued publicly in July.
The UW Police Department will be one of just 15 out of 280 law enforcement agencies in the state to have achieved national accreditation.
“It’s tangible evidence that we’re doing the right things as a law enforcement agency,” Stormo said.
To read the UW Campus Police’s Crime Report for 2004, visit the department’s Web site at:
