IN DEPTH: CMU maintains low assault rate with several initiatives, factors

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CMU is one of few universities in the country that does not require all student sexual assaults to be reported to police, instead offering an alternative haven for victims.

Many sexual assaults are only disclosed to Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates, the first peer-to-peer confidential advocacy group in the country. The 40 SAPA members help between 350 to 400 survivors per year.

In 1997, when the Office of Sexual Aggression Services was formed at CMU, a policy was created allowing sexual assault victims to be in complete control of the information flow. Assault survivors make the decision on their own whether to report their case to police.

As a result, CMU Police statistics on sexual assaults are inaccurate, said SAPA director Stephen Thompson.

“The number reported is a very misleading statistic,” Thompson said.

Thompson said at an average campus the size of CMU, there are about 20 sexual assaults per week. In 2009, there were a total of five sexual assaults reported to CMU Police, four forcible penetration and one fondling.

CMU Police Statistics

Although CMU has a low assault rate on campus, not all cases are solved.

There have been between zero and six aggravated assaults on campus per year, and between 11 and 29 non-aggravated assaults per year since 1998.

The numbers have slightly fluctuated over the years, but CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley said the differences are insignificant when considering the number of students CMU has.

“(The reports) say that we have a very long history for not having a lot of these assaults on campus,” Yeagley said.

When an assault is reported, he said police respond to the scene, interview the survivor, look for witnesses to interview, collect evidence, photograph and process it. From there, they try to find a suspect, perform a background check and then interrogate.

The unsolved cases usually occur when the survivor has no idea who their assailant was and there were no surveillance cameras or witnesses on the scene. Yeagley said those types of cases can be nearly impossible to solve.

There are several differences between non-aggravated and aggravated assaults in Michigan.

Aggravated assault is an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.  This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm.

This form of assault is a misdemeanor in Michigan, punishable by up to one year in prison and up to $1,000 in fines.

A non-aggravated assault is any intentional, unlawful threat to do bodily injury to another by force. It is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for no more than 93 days or a fine of no more than $500, or both. Depending on a number of factors, assault and battery can also be charged as misdemeanor domestic violence or aggravated assault.

“Non-aggravated assaults can be as simple as pushing someone down,” Yeagley said. “The numbers are pretty darn small for 25,000 students.”

Other universities

There are not necessarily more reported assaults on other campuses similar in size to CMU, including those that lack a program such as SAPA.

In 2009, Eastern Michigan University had three sexual assaults reported to campus police. Wayne State University had five and Western Michigan University had nine. None of those universities have a program similar to SAPA.

Thompson said the reason some students are reluctant to report sexual assault is not because they do not believe police will respond well, but because they do not want their family to know about it.

“Survivors are more comfortable with the system here, so they come forward,” Thompson said. “There is not a university or area that responds to survivors anywhere nearly as well as we do.”

Thompson is trying to spread SAPA to other universities, but often faces skepticism.

“Many people don’t feel that students are mature enough to be able to do this work and have confidentiality,” Thompson said.

If a student wishes to report an assault to the police, a SAPA member will accompany them.

“SAPA and law enforcement agencies in the area have a great relationship,” Thompson said.

Most sexual assaults occur off campus and in the fall with freshman survivors, he said.

Last weekend, SAPA received 91 applicants who wished to become advocates and chose 18. Each SAPA member undergoes 50 hours of training.

“What bugs me is when university officials say students are lazy and don’t care anymore,” Thompson said. “I get to work with some great individuals who give a damn.”

Relatively peaceful

There are several reasons behind CMU’s crime rate.

Yeagley said CMU attracts peaceful students and does a good job of prevention. Furthermore, he said the well-populated campus makes it difficult for possible assailants to find a place where they are alone with someone they want to hurt.

Yeagley believes the blue light emergency phone system is also effective in prevention.

“We get enough use of them every year that I would not want to do without them,” Yeagley said.

CMU students have mixed feelings about CMU’s efforts to promote campus safety

“Between the blue lights and the police cars just randomly driving around, I feel pretty safe,” said Oak Park freshman Lindsey Grose.

Brighton sophomore Allie Wessel said she still does not feel comfortable walking around campus at night.

“I drive my car just so I don’t have to walk all the way back to my house as it is getting dark out,” Wessel said. “For the most part, campus is pretty well lit up, like around the library. But for some areas though, campus could use a little more lighting.”