MU releases 2021 annual fire safety and security report
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The University of Missouri has released its annual fire safety and security report; the report goes back three years.
MU said they saw a drop in some crimes in 2020, including rape and stalking. According to the report in 2020, MU investigated 25 stalking cases, down from 36 in 2019.
Sara Diedrich, public safety information specialist at MU, says sexual assault numbers have also gone down.
"Our reported rapes had gone down. There were 22 reported rapes but eight of those rapes that we reported in the calendar year 2020 happened in previous years," said Diedrich.
Diedrich said under the Clery Act, if someone comes in to report a rape, MUPD has to include it in the year it was reported.
Other campuses around the area have also seen a decrease in similar crimes. According to Lincoln University's most recent report, they reported two rapes in 2019. That's down from seven in 2018 and two in 2017.
Columbia College report shows only one rape reported in 2019 and none in 2018 or 2020. Rami Merayyan is a sophomore at t MU.
Merayyan's mom is Muslim and works on MU's campus. Her concern is about possible hate crimes on campus.
"Like my mom, she works here, and she just mentioned how she is not necessarily safe walking into work when it gets like around wintertime when the sun rises not as early as we want it to be and leaving work when the sun is coming down," said Merayyan.
Emily Racketts is also a student at MU. She said she overall feels safe on campus and utilizes the buddy system.
"I think it is a pretty good thing to have a group system just in case if anything happens, you either have someone who can go get help or be able to just deterrent from the beginning," said Racketts.
In a media release to ABC 17 New, MUPD Chief Brian Weimer said, “MU safety staff are always looking for ways to improve the Mizzou experience for every member of the campus community through educational programming and accessible resources,” Ward said.
Diedrich told ABC 17 that the recent sexual assault on campus is still under investigation, but a suspect has been identified.
