Produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications
Chief David B. Mitchell of the University of Maryland Police Department sent the following email to the campus community today:
The 2021 Annual Safety and Security Report (ASR) and Annual Fire Safety Report (AFSR) are available for your review.
The ASR provides safety and security resources and information to current and prospective students and their parents, as well as to faculty and staff members. Statistics comparing crime over the previous three years are outlined in the report. The ASR is a part of the effort to ensure that this collaborative endeavor is effective and is in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. The purpose of the AFSR report is to disclose fire safety policies and procedures related to our on-campus student housing and to disclose statistics for fires that occurred in those facilities.
As you review the ASR, please keep in mind that our community has options for reporting incidents that fall under the Clery Act. Incidents can be reported to police, campus security authorities, and/or confidential resources. Therefore, not all cases that were reported in the ASR were criminally investigated by law enforcement.
The Clery Act requires the University of Maryland to count and disclose crimes that occur within four general categories: criminal offenses, hate crimes, Violence Against Women Act offenses and arrests and referrals for disciplinary action. Incidents reported occurred either on-campus, in non-campus buildings or property, or on public property that occurred immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus. The report also includes statistics on crime that occurred where university students stay while on university-sponsored travel, within the United States or abroad, and area crime reported to off-campus law enforcement agencies.
This report also reflects changes in data sets due to revised reporting requirements and the development of new ways to report. Footnotes, which clarify where changes in reporting have resulted in a noticeable variance from previous years’ reports, are included in the interest of transparency.
During 2020, the University of Maryland community faced numerous challenges. Despite these challenges, the University of Maryland Police Department (UMPD) continued to work on-campus 24/7 to serve and protect the university, ensuring campus safety was UMPD’s priority during a global pandemic. Throughout 2020, UMPD responded to over 94,000 calls for service; these included but were not limited to: responding to emergency and non-emergency calls, initiating traffic stops, conducting building checks across our campus community, responding to vehicle and building lockouts, investigating traffic accidents and providing walking escorts.
Programs and resources that we provide include the following, which are highlighted in the report:
Printed copies of the ASR may be requested through the mail or in person from the University of Maryland Police Department, Pocomoke Building, 7569 Baltimore Ave., College Park, Maryland 20742 or by calling 301.405.3555.
Printed copies of the AFSR may be requested through the mail or in person from the University of Maryland Department of Environmental Safety, Sustainability and Risk, Seneca Building, 4716 Pontiac St., Suite 0103, College Park, Maryland 20742 or by calling 301.405.3960.
We hope you will read the reports carefully and use the information to help foster a safer environment for you and for others within our community. Reviewing the information will increase your awareness, which will promote future action. ‘
We have no greater priority than the safety of our students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus, and a truly safe campus can only be achieved through the cooperation of everyone.
David B. Mitchell
Chief of Police/ Director of Public Safety
University of Maryland Police Department
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