Five reported incidents of fondling, four incidents of motor vehicle theft and five drug law violations were reported on the OCCC campus in 2014, according to the newly-released 2015 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.

The report, compiled by OCCC Police Chief James Fitzpatrick in accordance with the Student-Right-To-Know and Jeanne Clery Acts, was released Sept. 30.

Jeanne Clery was a 19-year-old woman who was raped and murdered in 1986 by a fellow student in her Lehigh University dorm room located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Clery’s parents were shocked to find the history of rising crime at their daughter’s university, and how administrators and campus police had no system of reporting the incidents to students. In response, they became advocates for informing students of crimes on their campuses, according to clerycenter.org.

Requirements

Campuses are required to release the public report — which covers a three-year period — by Oct. 1 each year.

The 2015 report includes crime statistics from four separate OCCC campuses: the Main Campus, the Family and Community Education Center, Capitol Hill Center and the Professional Development Institute, although campus police only patrol the Main Campus and the FACE Center, Fitzpatrick said.

There are currently around 13,000 students enrolled at OCCC in addition to 1,427 employees.

As of the 2015 report, Fitzpatrick said, the guidelines now mandate forcible and non-forcible sex offenses to be broken down into a crime hierarchy, where crimes fall into their highest offense.

Fitzpatrick offered the example of the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shooting to explain sorting crimes by hierarchy.

He said although there were numerous counts of aggravated assault, the highest crime within the hierarchy committed in the incident was murder.

Therefore, only the 32 homicides were listed on Virginia Tech’s Annual Security Report the following year.

Clery Act Amended

for sex-based crimes

In 2013, President Barack Obama signed the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act as part of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.

This amended the Jeanne Clery Act to require campus police departments to categorize sex-based crimes as well.

OCCC lists one reported rape on campus. There also was another instance where a rape is listed as having been determined to be unfounded.

Fitzpatrick said that incident of rape was investigated by the Oklahoma City Police Department and the reporting person recanted her statement.

There were no reported incidents of rape in either 2012 or 2013.

In 2014 there were five reported cases of fondling, up from one in 2013 and none in 2012.

Fitzpatrick said he feels fondling crimes were reported at a higher level in 2014 because of awareness and education programs OCCC has implemented.

“People realize [they] used to blow [these incidents] off, but now they are saying ‘[the offender] touched me in a way that was improper,’” he said.

OCCC Police Lt. Daniel Piazza said when one victim came forward about an incident of fondling, the investigation ended up identifying two more victims.

Other Campus Crime Numbers

Hate crimes also are included in the 2015 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. In 2014, one hate crime was identified.

Fitzpatrick said the incident involved a student being intimidated by classmates due to a lack of religion. He said the offenders used bias against the victim.

“Whether it is bias or hate, it does not matter” he said.

Robbery crimes on OCCC campuses are still down, with both 2013 and 2014 showing no instances of robbery, and one reported instance in 2012.

Aggravated assault cases also are on the decline, with no reported instances in 2014, a reduction from one each year in both 2012 and 2013.

Though there were three reported cases of burglary in 2012, none were reported in either 2013 or 2014.

Motor vehicle theft is more prevalent this year. There were four reported cases in 2014, with two cases in 2013 and three cases in 2012.

There was one reported case of domestic violence per year in both 2014 and 2013, and none in 2012.

There were two instances of stalking in 2014, and one instance in 2013.

Additionally, one instance of stalking in 2014 is listed as unfounded.

Fitzpatrick said he was notified the report needed to be amended as the stalking incident listed as unfounded does not meet the guidelines of the crime.

Campus drug law violations appear to be on the rise with one instance in 2012, two instances in 2013 and five reported in 2014.

There were two instances of weapons violations in 2014 — one violation with a handgun and one with a knife.

According to the report there were no weapons violations in either 2013 or 2012.

The report shows three liquor law violations in 2013, up from zero in 2012. However, there were no reported instances in 2014.

OCCC Summary

According to the ASR, from years 2012 to 2014 there have been no reported instances of murder, non-negligent or negligent manslaughter, incest, statutory rape, arson, or dating violence.

Overall, Fitzpatrick said, he is impressed with the reduced number of campus larcenies since 2010 and with the relatively low number of car burglaries and drug violations at OCCC, Fitzpatrick said.

“This is an extremely safe campus.” he said.

In fact, Fitzpatrick said, he has been surprised during his years at OCCC how few students have been arrested for drug violations.

“There is not a drug problem on the campus.”

For more information, contact Fitzpatrick at 405-682-1611 ext. 7891. For a copy of the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report 2015 visit the Campus Police Office.

For previous reports, visit www.dev.occc.edu/police/crimesafetystats.html.