Don’t be a statistic: campus crime quantified

Every week the Campus Public Safety Office releases the previous week’s crime reports so students can stay informed on recent campus crime activity.

Below you will find a campus crime map reflecting crime reports received between Jan. 1 and July 15, 2017.

*While every individual officer uses their own lingo for recording crime-related encounters, the Vanguard has attempted to organize these crimes in the most accurate way possible. For this reason, confidential medical assists and welfare checks were omitted from the data due to the lack of collectible information and the absence of crime involved. Crimes that were later updated as non-crimes were also omitted from the data collection.

Locations with the most crime reports

Out of the 416 crimes reported on campus, 70.7 percent occurred within the same 15 buildings on campus.

The top five buildings with the most reported crimes were Parking Structure 3, Millar Library, Smith Memorial Student Union, Parking Structure 1, and the Joseph C. Blumel Residence Hall.

An additional 7.5 percent of reported crimes occurred on the streets within campus.

Of the 31 street crimes reported, 21 occurred between SW Park and 5th Avenue, while another 6 occurred between SW 13th and 12th Avenues. The most common streets with reported crimes were Market, Montgomery, Mill and Hall.

Overall, the two most common crimes reported on street locations were theft and disorderly conduct.

Parking lot crimes

Of all reported crimes, 36 percent occurred in campus parking structures or involved street parking within the campus area.

The top three most crime-prone parking lots were PS3 with 59 reports, PS1 with 30 reports, and BLU with 19 reports.

The most common parking level for PS3 was level three with 11 crime reports, while parking level six had zero reported crimes. However, there were also 20 unreported parking levels within the CPSO crime reports.

PS1’s busiest parking level appeared to be level one with five reports, while parking levels seven through eight had zero. There were five unreported levels.

The Blumel parking area is separated into the upper and lower levels, and both areas appear to have similar crime occurrence rates. The upper lot had eight reports of crime activity while the lower had five. There were six unreported level locations.

Other popular locations for parking lot crimes included the University Place Hotel, Ondine, Market Center Building, and the University Center Building. Eleven vehicular crimes occurred on the streets of campus.

Crime categories

Theft
The criminal act of taking another’s property or services without consent.
Most likely location: PS3 (35 reports)
Least likely location: Shattuck Hall (Zero reports)
Busiest month: May (55 reports)
Slowest month: January (13 reports)

Theft reports
Vehicle break-ins: 93 reports
Property theft: 47 reports
Bike related thefts: 29 reports
Burglary: 10 reports
Attempted thefts: 9 reports

Disorderly conduct
When a person commits a crime that is reckless and intentional such as loitering, fighting, conducting in behavior that is unreasonably loud and disruptive despite being asked to stop, and is disrupting a lawful assembly of people around them.
Most likely location: SMSU (14 reports)
Least likely location: FAB (zero reports)
Busiest month: March (30 reports)
Slowest month: April (11 reports)

Disorderly conduct reports:
Drug and alcohol related: 36 reports
Camping and sleep related: 30 reports
Aggressive, violent, or disruptive behavior: 24 reports

Criminal mischief
When a person commits a crime with the intent to unlawfully damage or misuse property.
Most likely location: PS1 (8 reports)
Least likely locations: MCB, UPH, and SMSU (zero reports)
Busiest month: May (13 reports)
Slowest month: April (4 reports)

Criminal mischief reports:
Vandalism: 43 reports
Hit and run: 6 reports
Arson: 4 reports

Harassment
Acts committed by a person that are unwanted, continuous, alarming, and threatening towards a person or a group of people.

Harassment reports:
Sexual harassment: 9 reports
Stalking: 1 report
Telephone harassment: 6 reports
Public indecency: 4 reports
Undisclosed: 4 reports

Trespassing
The act of entering a property without permission. While most crimes that are committed on campus are instances of trespassing in itself, data for this category involves trespassing as an exclusive, sole crime and when committed by a felon or person who is excluded from campus.

Assault
The criminal act of threatening or attempting to physically hurt another person.

Within the data categories of “Assault” are also battery and aggravated assault, which are technically distinct according to criminal and civil law within the United States.

Battery occurs when a threat is achieved while aggravated assault occurs when the perpetrator of the assault uses a deadly weapon.

Assault reports:
Sexual assault: 4 reports
Battery: 4 reports
Undisclosed: 3 reports

How to report a crime:

In the event that you find yourself witnessing a crime or someone is victimizing you, PSU’s Campus Public Safety Office is available to provide help.

Look for a blue light

Throughout campus are emergency phones with blue lights shining above them. The emergency phones allow students to directly contact CPSO by pushing the call button or even lifting the phone from the receiver. Anytime the phone is used in any capacity, dispatchers will be able to direct officers to your phone location for help.

PSU alerts and timely-warnings

PSU students can also opt-in to receive emergency alerts from the university by signing on to their Banweb account and providing their email, phone number, and emergency contact information.

Alerts can be received through email, phone calls, and text messaging. Students may change their information or opt-out from these alerts at any time.

In addition, PSU also utilizes Twitter and Facebook to update students on important alerts and announcements in real time.

CPSO location and contact:

633 SW Montgomery Street, Portland, OR 97201
Emergency: 503-725-4404
Non-Emergency: 503-725-4407
Fax: 503-725-5593
Email: [email protected]

Follow CPSO on Twitter! @PSU_CPSO