Safety on Campus
Campus Crime Statistics
The figures listed in the Campus Crime Statistics table reflect crimes reported to have occurred on Boston University’s Charles River and Medical campuses.
Statistics from other Boston University campuses are available on the Boston University Police Department website: www.bu.edu/police/statistics.
Crimes are recorded in the year in which they were reported to a campus security authority.
Under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), the University must report any crimes of which it has knowledge—whether through its police department, non-law enforcement University officials, or from other law enforcement agencies—that occur:
- on campus, with a separate designation for crimes in dormitories.
- in or on certain noncampus buildings or property.
- on certain public property.
The definitions of campus, noncampus building or property, and public property under the Clery Act are as follows:
The term campus means:
- Any building or property owned or controlled by an institution of higher education within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution and used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner related to, the institution’s educational purposes, including residence halls.
- Property within the same reasonably contiguous geographical area of the institution that is owned by the institution but controlled by another person, is used by students, and supports institutional purposes (such as a food or other retail vendor).
The term noncampus building or property means:
- Any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization recognized by the institution.
- Any building or property (other than a branch campus) owned or controlled by an institution of higher education that is used in direct support of, or in a relation to, the institution’s educational purposes, is used by students, and is not within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution.
The term public property means all public property that is within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution, such as a sidewalk, a street, other thoroughfare, or parking facility, and is adjacent to a facility owned or controlled by the institution if the facility is used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner related to, the institution’s educational purposes.
Boston University is proud of its long-standing policy of voluntarily reporting its crime indices to the FBI and to the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety. The Boston University Police Department has been commended by the Governor of Massachusetts for its leadership role in making campus crime information available to the public.
Boston University is a community of approximately 35,000 students, faculty, staff, apartment dwellers, and commercial tenants. The University’s main campus (Charles River Campus) stretches about one-and-a-half miles along the Charles River, borders the town of Brookline, and is located approximately one-and-a-half miles from downtown Boston. The Boston University Medical Campus is located in Boston’s South End, about two miles from the city center.
Crime Definitions
The following definitions are used for reporting the crimes listed in the “Campus Crime Statistics” required under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. The definitions for murder, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, weapon law violations, drug abuse violations, and liquor law violations are excerpted from the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook. The definitions of forcible and nonforcible sex offenses are excerpted from the National Incident-Based Reporting System Edition of the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook. The definition of hate crimes is specific to the Clery Act.
These definitions may vary from definitions of crimes under Massachusetts law.
Arson
Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, or other personal property of another.
Criminal Homicide: Manslaughter by Negligence
The killing of another person through gross negligence.
Criminal Homicide: Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter
The willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.
Robbery
The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
Aggravated Assault
An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. (It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could and probably would result in serious personal injury if the crime were successfully completed.)
Burglary
The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. For reporting purposes this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or a felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
Motor Vehicle Theft
The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access even though the vehicles are later abandoned, including joyriding.)
Weapon Law Violations
The violation of laws or ordinances dealing with weapon offenses, regulatory in nature, such as: manufacture, sale, or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minors; aliens possessing deadly weapons; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
Drug Abuse Violations
Violations of state and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include: opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine); marijuana; synthetic narcotics (demerol, methadones); and dangerous nonnarcotic drugs (barbiturates, benzedrine).
Liquor Law Violations
The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to a minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition.
The legal drinking age in Massachusetts is twenty-one.
Forcible Sex Offenses
Any sexual act directed against another person forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent.
- Forcible Rape: The carnal knowledge of a person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity or because of his/her youth.
- Forcible Sodomy: Oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
- Sexual Assault With An Object: The use of an object or instrument to unlawfully penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body of another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
- Forcible Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or, not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
Non-Forcible Sex Offenses
Unlawful, non-forcible sexual intercourse.
- Incest: Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
- Statutory Rape: Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the Statutory age of consent. In Massachusetts, the Statutory age of consent is sixteen.
Hate Crimes
Hate Crime statistics are reported in connection with any occurrence of criminal homicide, sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny-theft, simple assault, intimidation, destruction, damage, or vandalism of property, and any other crime involving bodily injury reported to local law enforcement or a campus security authority that manifests evidence that the victim was intentionally selected because of the perpetrator's bias against the actual or perceived race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability of the victim.
Note:
The FBI warns: “Caution should be exercised in making any inter-campus comparisons, as university/college crime statistics are affected by a variety of factors. These include: demographic characteristics of the surrounding community, ratio of male to female students, number of on-campus residents, accessibility to outside visitors, size of enrollment, etc.” The quality of an institution’s police department, the level of training, and resources available also influence the accuracy and overall reliability of crime statistics reported.
