On Thursday, Sept. 26, Grand Rapids Community College released the 2024 Annual Security Report, documenting crimes reported from 2021 to 2023.
The report provides definitions of all reportable crimes and educates students, staff and faculty about emergency response and evacuation procedures. The report also details various institutional policies, notification processes and crime and fire statistics.
Details on campus crime begin on page 11.
The college reported one rape in 2022, as well as three reports of fondling in the same year. Four aggravated assaults were reported in 2021 as well as one in both 2022 and 2023. Five burglaries were reported in 2022 followed by one in 2023 and one case of motor vehicle theft in 2023. Two instances of domestic violence were reported in 2022 as well as one in 2023. One instance of dating violence was reported in 2022. There were two reports of stalking in 2021, five in 2022 and three in 2023.
Regarding the one reported rape and three reports of fondling in 2022, a Title IX investigation was opened against the alleged perpetrator, however the victim chose not to pursue criminal charges and the accused staff member has since left the college.
Additionally, the college reported one weapons-related charge in 2023 and one liquor law violation in 2022.
GRCC also reported no hate crimes or unfounded crimes, crimes that have been reported and proven false, in the last three years.
The college is by law required to post the 2024 ASR by Oct. 1. However, due to the police department posting early, the 2023 report has been removed from the website.
The 2023 report included statistics for 2020, during which 22 counts of statutory rape were reported.
The footnotes connected to the incident read, “Same offender and victim over a course of a year. The victim was under the age of consent. Incidents had different dates and times. Suspect is being charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct 3rd degree.”
In the same year, 22 counts of disciplinary referrals due to liquor law violations can be seen with an asterisk stating “Same Offender over a course of a year, providing alcohol to a minor. Incidents occurred on different dates and times.”
All 22 reports of statutory rape and liquor law violations are connected to a former employee at a local public school who engaged in a relationship with a student at the high school and college for over a year. According to court documents, he began his relationship with the victim while employed at the high school and continued it while employed by GRCC.
The man was arrested in 2020 and convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2022.
Students and staff can get the most up-to-date look at campus crime by referring to the daily crime log which lists all offenses reported to the police department in the last 60 days.
Following the main campus report on the 2024 ASR, a crime appendix for the Leslie E. Tassell MTEC Campus, Lakeshore Campus, Patrick A. Thompson MTEC/Careerline Tech Center Campus and Midtown Center Campus are provided.
All locations were sparse in reported crime, except for one report of arson on the MTEC campus in 2022, a reported stalking in 2021 and a drug abuse disciplinary referral in 2022.
The Lakeshore Campus reported one case of stalking in 2022.
All reported crimes are broken down into three categories: On-Campus Property, Non-Campus Property and Public Property. GRCC Chief of Police Rebecca Whitman explained that on-campus property is anything owned or leased by the college, and the report provides explanation into what is covered under each category.
“(Non-campus buildings or property is) any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by the institution,” the report states. “Or any building or property owned or controlled by an institution that is used in direct support of, or in relation to the institution’s educational purposes is frequently used by students.”
Satellite locations are also considered part of non-campus geography.
The report defines public property as, “thoroughfares, streets, sidewalks and parking facilities that are within the campus or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus.”
Other resources, such as drug and alcohol awareness programs for students, the course of action to be taken after reporting a crime, information about various on campus services for students such as counseling and the Title IX sexual harassment policy round off the report.
“If students were going to go to that document, we would want them to read the things about how to report a crime, where to go if you need help, what our drug and alcohol policy is on campus, what are the resources that we have available to students, what programming do we have,” Whitman said in April during an interview with The Collegiate about the 2023 ASR. “All of those things are listed in that document for students to understand where they can go for help.”
These reports are required for all colleges receiving federal funding due to the death of Jeanne Clery in 1986, who lost her life in a dorm room rape and murder that year at Lehigh University.
After losing their daughter, parents Connie and Howard Clery became advocates for national change and pushed for college safety reform. When they looked into the history of Lehigh University, they discovered that their daughter’s death was not an isolated instance and 38 violent crimes had taken place on campus in the three years prior. Prior to Jeanne’s death there were no requirements for colleges and universities to publicly release any information regarding campus crimes, and the Clery’s have stated that if they knew about the previous crimes their daughter would not have attended Lehigh.
Their advocacy led to Congress passing a law four years later requiring all colleges and universities receiving federal funding to report the last three years of campus crime crime, fire statistics and additional campus security information. This law became known as The Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act, later renamed The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics.
“The purpose of the Clery Act and the driving force behind it and the passion behind what Mr. and Mrs. Clery were trying to do, I think, should never be lost on institutions,” Whitman said in April. “I think you as students, you as an employee, have a right to know what’s happening from a safety perspective on your campus.”
GET HELP: If you believe that you have been the victim of crime, feel unsafe, or have a concern, reach out to the campus police non-emergency number at (616-234-0410). In emergency situations, please call (616) 234-4911 for campus police or dial 9-1-1.
Blace Carpenter contributed to this report.
