On Oct. 1, the annual Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics was released. This document gives valuable information on the overall campus safety of the past few years and offers guidelines for all students and faculty to follow on how to stay safe on campus.
The 2019 Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics gives pointers from Whistle Defense, a campus safety program that teaches students and faculty what precautions to take when addressing a potentially dangerous situation. This document goes over all topics involving general safety, from evacuation procedures to topics of consent and reporting sexual violence.
Frank Ficko, associate director of public safety (‘82) has been working at the university for over 35 years. This Stag holds great love for his school and enjoys every new day at Fairfield: “Fairfield is a wonderful place to work and it’s been a rewarding career. Working with students keeps me motivated and ‘on my toes,’” he wrote via email.
Ficko spoke to the origin and purpose of this document. “Unfortunately, the story of Jeanne Clery is a sad and tragic one,” he wrote. “While a freshman, she was raped and murdered in 1986 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at Lehigh University.”
Clery’s anguished parents’ campaigns for legislative reform resulted in the passage of the Clery Act in 1990 that “requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses,” according to the 2019 Jeanne Clery Disclosure.
Ficko stressed the importance of withholding any feelings of reservation when comparing this data to other schools, as “crime statistics are affected by a variety of factors. These include demographic characteristics of the surrounding community, the ratio of male to female students, number of on-campus residents, accessibility of outside visitors, size of enrollment and other factors.”
The crime rate is derived from the total number of full-time equivalent students and employees for the same calendar period, and this report also includes the students and staff of Fairfield College Preparatory school as they reside on campus as well. “The total FTE students and employees for 2018 on Fairfield University’s campus was 6585 (students: 4,732, staff: 984) approximately 3,070 students and employees live in campus housing. These figures include Fairfield College Preparatory School (students: 775, staff: 94),” according to the 2019 Disclosure.
The following crimes were reported in 2018: 9 sexual offenses, 2 dating violence, 2 aggravated assaults, 5 burglaries and 23 larcenies; arrests for 10 drug abuse violations; disciplinary referrals for 230 liquor law violations and 51 drug abuse violations.
In 2018 there were zero reports of criminal homicide, stalking, domestic violence, robbery, motor vehicle theft and arson; zero reports of hate crimes toward any group of people; zero arrests for liquor law violations, and neither arrests nor any disciplinary referrals for weapon possession.
If you would like to read more on campus safety and statistics, the report can be accessed through the Fairfield University website: https://www.fairfield.edu/undergraduate/student-life-and-services/public-safety/
If you were a victim of any form of violence, please contact any of these numbers:
Counseling & Psychological Services (students only) (203) 254-4000, ext. 2146
Public Safety (203) 254-4090
Fairfield Police Department 911 or (203) 254-4800
(See the 2019 Disclosure for more options to contact for help, both on-campus and off-campus.)
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