Violent crime rates decreased on MU’s campus in 2020, but there were fewer students on campus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of Missouri Police Department’s annual fire and safety security report, released last week, shows a lower rate of violent crime for 2020. Campus police saw a decrease in aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft, drug arrests, domestic violence and stalking. Drug law arrests decreased while liquor law arrests increased.
Sara Diedrich, public information officer for MUPD, said she does not have any information that suggests the crime rate decreased because of the absence of students during the pandemic. She hopes the educational resources MUPD offered to students aided in the lower violent crime rates.
“We’re constantly trying to educate the campus community in ways to keep themselves safe,” Diedrich said. “Hopefully some of that is paying off, and people are taking more precautions.”
Christopher Cook is an MU sociology professor with research focused in criminology. He believes the decreased violent crime rate is directly related to the absence of students on campus during the pandemic.
“It’s OK to highlight things that (MUPD) is doing and to have ongoing conversations about what’s going on, but it just doesn’t make any logical sense,” Cook said. “The students weren’t on campus; the crime rate went down.”
Rates for crimes such as stalking and sexual assault at MU were similar to rates at other college campuses, Cook said.
Cook said stay-at-home orders and lockdowns caused a dramatic decrease in overall crime in the U.S., and the MUPD report reflects this trend.
Diedrich said the report shows the safety measures that the campus is taking to help students. She said that MUPD works closely with other campus resources such as the Office for Civil Rights & Title IX office and the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center to educate the MU community about safety.
“For us here at Mizzou, safety is a collaborative effort,” Diedrich said.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Justice Information Services shows violent crimes reported to campus police decreased 12% during the year of 2020, in comparison to 2019 reports.
In contrast, the Missouri State Highway Patrol statistics show an increased rate of violent crimes reported by the Columbia Police Department for 2020. According to the data, the violent crime rate increased 38% in 2020 when compared to 2019 reports.
Jeff Pitts, Columbia Police Department public information specialist, said there was an increase in domestic violence in 2020.
Cook said the increase in the violent crime rate for Columbia in 2020 is similar to national trends. While the overall crime rate decreased in the U.S., violent crimes such as homicide and domestic violence increased during 2020.
This could be due to the economic and social strain the pandemic caused for Americans.
“We went through a pretty strenuous period in all kinds of ways,” Cook said. “The crime rates are just a reflection of that.”
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October 03, 2021 at 06:00PM
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MUPD reports lower crime rates for 2020 during pandemic school year - Columbia Missourian
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