While last year's crime statistics may have very little significance to students and faculty, the 2001 Annual Crime Report, recently released by University Police, summarizes the numbers of incidents and investigations on campus.

As noted in the report, University Police are required to prepare this packet and make it available to the community, as required by the Higher Education Act of 1965. But the department also uses the data to help inform students and faculty, as well as make plans to better protect the campus.

"The on-going planning guide is part of the purpose for the annual report, but it's also an issue of awareness within the community," Regina Lawson, University Police chief, said.

Although most of the categories of crimes, arrests and referrals report very few or no incidents last year, there are a few unusual statistics.

In 2001, there were 97 burglaries reported on campus; up from 45 in 2000, and 32 in 1999.

Sophomore Nick Ewen had his ThinkPad stolen last semester after he left it sitting in the Piccolo Residence Hall lounge while he was in his room. Ewen, although recognizing that he should have been more careful with his computer, was upset with the way University Police handled the case.

"It took two and half weeks before they started questioning and investigating," Ewen said. "By the time they started, it was already too late to recover my computer."

With a recent series of small thefts and robberies around campus, some students are worried about protecting their goods. "We certainly hope that this will not be an ongoing problem," Lawson said. "It's hard to predict the trend though, at least until another semester has passed."

University Police urge students and faculty to be careful of leaving valuables unattended and to promptly report any suspicious activities or problems.

As far as investigations go, University Police have a variety of methods to help find perpetrators, including monitoring who had access to certain residence halls and suites through the key card readers. "The information is used as an investigative tool," Lawson said. "But how often, that just depends on the number of incidents in a specific area."

Operation ID, which encourages students to engrave identifying serial numbers into valuables, is also an effective method. However, few students utilize this option, according to Lawson.

Another notable statistic in the report is that there were no reported forcible sex offenses on campus last year, which is the first time in the past three years.

One of the most prevalent problems remains the number of liquor law referrals, which constitute a majority of incidents on campus. In 2001, University Police issued 113 referrals, while other campus officials, like resident advisers and hall directors, issued 83. Over the past three years, the ratio between the numbers of liquor citations issued by each party has increasingly leaned toward University Police.