Trinity Releases Annual Security Report, Crime and Disciplinary Actions Slightly Decline in 2020

Jack P. Carroll ‘24 

Managing Editor 

Trinity released the College’s Annual Security Report and Annual Fire Safety Report for 2020 on Thursday, Sept. 30 via an email sent by Interim Director of Campus Safety and Dean of Community Life and Standards Robert P. Lukaskiewicz to the Trinity College community. 

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crimes Statistics Act requires colleges and universities to disclose “statistics concerning the occurrence of certain criminal offenses reported to local law enforcement agencies or any official of the institution who is defined as ‘Campus Security Authority.’” These criminal offenses include: murder, sex offenses (forcible/non-forcible), burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny-theft, vandalism, intimidation, simple assault, and destruction of property. Schools are required to disclose statistics for biased-related (hate) crimes as well.  

Trinity’s crime statistics for 2020 slightly declined from previous years. There were 13 instances of aggravated assault on public property, two off campus, and one on campus. These figures are lower than those reported in 2019 (17 public property, three off campus), although higher than the 2018 numbers (one on campus, one in student housing, five on public property). The report notes that 11 of the 13 aggravated assaults on public property last year were “paintball instances that resulted in no serious injuries.”  

The total number of reported burglaries also dropped from previous years. In 2020, there were five burglaries on campus, four in student housing, and four off campus. In 2019, these figures were six, five, and four respectively; the year prior, Trinity reported eight burglaries on campus, three in student housing, and three off campus. Other declines in the Criminal Offenses section include: non-negligent murder / manslaughter (0), motor vehicle theft (0), robbery (0), and forcible rape (6 on campus, 6 in student housing). There were also four cases of fondling on campus and three in student housing last year. This number is lower than the figures from 2019 (eight on campus, five in student housing, four off campus) but higher than 2018 (three on campus, one off campus).  

Several categories in the criminal offense section remained the same from 2018-2020. Trinity reported 0 cases in the following offense categories for the second year in a row: murder / manslaughter (negligent), statutory rape, incest, and domestic violence.  

The report indicated that marijuana was not included in the Criminal Offenses section stating: “Connecticut has decriminalized marijuana where possession of a small amount marijuana is no longer a criminal offense. Referrals that occur for this decriminalized conduct are not counted for Clery Act purposes.”  

Under the Arrests section of the report, 0 alcohol-related arrests were reported last year which is consistent with the results from 2019 and 2018. There was a decline in drug arrests on public property from seven in 2019 to three in 2020. Trinity also reported one arrest for weapons possession on campus, in student housing, and on public property which is up from previous years.  

Disciplinary action for alcohol and drugs also dropped in 2020. Last year on campus, 60 students were disciplined for alcohol and 7 for drugs. In 2019, these numbers were 61 and 15 respectively; in 2018, 46 students on campus (44 in student housing) were disciplined for alcohol and 71 for drugs. One individual was disciplined for weapons possession in 2020 which is an increase from the previous two years.  

There was one hate incident reported on campus in 2020 cited as “Destruction Damage Vandalism to Property based on Sexuality.” These numbers are consistent with the figures from 2019 (“Destruction Vandalism to Property based on Race”) and 2018 (“Destruction Vandalism to Property based on Race that occurred On Campus in Student Housing”).  

The Office of Study Away reported 0 incidents of crime (e.g., aggravated assault, arson, burglary, etc.) in study abroad programs for 2020. Two forcible sex offenses were reported in 2019 and 0 in 2018. However, a Tripod investigation into the Office’s Clery Act reporting found the 2018 figure to be inaccurate after publishing an article about an incident in which three Trinity students in Barcelona were mugged in January that year. Former Director of Campus Safety Brian Heavren told the Tripod in Mar. 2020 that “in this case, there was a Clery reportable crime, but it did not occur in the Clery geography, thus it was not included in the full report.” 

The report indicated that no fires occurred in on-campus student housing in 2020. In Sept. 2019, a fire was unintentionally caused by a cooking stove in the East Summit Residential Community. There were no reported fires in on-campus student housing in 2018.