This month, Elizabethtown College released the 2022 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. The report posts statistics for crimes on campus, public property adjacent to campus and other college owned property from calendar years 2019, 2020 and 2021.

There were no fires occurring in on-campus residence facilities last year, although if there were, it is likely that the building would be out of commission. While all campus living spaces have fire detection systems, only Hackman South and Hackman North apartments have full sprinkler systems. Of the residence halls, only Ober has a partial sprinkler system.

“I’m just glad I live in Ober,” student Elizabeth Petlick said.

Even though most halls don’t have sprinkler systems, there are fire extinguishers in every campus living space.

Although there were no fires in the last year, several crimes were reported to Campus Security.
This year, there were two simple assaults, 12 thefts, one vehicle theft, four vandalism events, three sex offenses, two drug abuse violations, one disorderly conduct and six other offenses. On all college campuses across the country, the most common crime is burglary, which accounts for 42% of the crimes.

There were also three fondling instances in a campus residential facility, one motor vehicle theft, 65 liquor violation referrals, seven drug violation referrals, four on-campus stalking incidents and one dating violence occurrence.

No crimes were later determined to be unfounded.

This means that a report deemed false or baseless through a full investigation by a sworn law enforcement agency.

Campus Security is not a sworn law enforcement agency,although the Elizabethtown Borough police and other state and federal police forces are.

Although at face value, the number of offenses seems large, compared to other institutions it’s relatively small. For example, in 2020, there were about 22,000 on-campus crimes reported at U.S. colleges, according to the U.S Department of Education. However, most students at Etown feel a sense of security on campus.

“I never had a problem before with safety, and the community around here feels like a very safe place,” student Elena Kenvin said. “If for some reason I were to feel unsafe, there’s Campus Security and the big blue lights.”
Included in the report were measures Campus Security has taken to ensure the well-being of the students, including the LiveSafe app, on which officers can watch students walking in real time. Kenvin said she’s never heard of any peers using the app.

“They talk about it when you first get here, but I haven’t heard anyone mention it again,” she said.

Petlick echoed her statement, but added that overall, she feels secure on and around campus.
“I feel comfortable enough to go for a walk in and around campus,” Petlick said. “The neighborhoods are really nice and welcoming.”

Also included in the prevention section of the report were EC alerts and emergency action plans. All residence halls completed at least one fire drill throughout the year, although students weren’t required to be present in the halls at that time.

The report also includes a section on policy violations. Any student, regardless of age, who is there where an alcohol or drug violation occurs might be considered equally responsible or complicit, meaning that even if a student is not drinking, they could be subject to the code of conduct.

The code of conduct is also included in the report, with the specific chain of command for students who have broken the rules.

The Clery Act was enacted by Congress in 1990, and renamed in honor of Jeanne Clery in 1998. In 1986, Clery was murdered in her campus resident hall room by a student she didn’t know after her school failed to inform students about 38 violent crimes on campus in the three years preceding her murder. Clery’s parents led the crusade to enact the law.

Head of Campus Security Gerald Kelly did not respond to a request for a comment.