Henderson Clery report published

According to the Clery Center, the Clery Act requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data, support victims of violence, and publicly outline the policies and procedures they have put into place to improve campus safety.

Henderson recently released its 2021 Clery Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, detailing all crime and fire-related incidents that occurred within the university’s crime reporting geography in 2020. The report also includes past incidents from 2018 and 2019, revealing changes in crime statistics over the past few years.

The 2021 Clery Report revealed a total of 78 offenses on its main campus in 2020, documenting eight more offenses than what occurred in 2019 when a total of only 70 offenses. In contrast, the 2018 Clery Report revealed a total of 74 offenses.

Henderson reported one case of arson in 2020, something that has not been recorded since 2017, when two cases occurred. It was also reported that the campus saw a total of 12 more occasions of Liquor Law Violations Referred for Disciplinary Action, and ten more occasions of Drug Law Violations Referred for Disciplinary Action than in 2019.

The report also documents sexual assault and domestic abuse cases on and off campus. These include one case of stalking, two cases of dating violence, one case of domestic violence and one case of rape.

According to Chief of University Police & Director of Emergency Management, Johnny Campbell, Henderson’s historically low enrollment has created a problem for campus safety.

“Higher enrollment would mean a requirement for more officers, but because our enrollment is so low at the moment, we only have a few officers,” said Campbell. “If we could get our enrollment back up, maybe get our staff back up, we might have more resources to work with,”

That’s not the only reason Henderson is low on officers though.

“This isn’t just Henderson,” Campbell said. “We’re experiencing a statewide shortage of officers, too. We’re recruiting right now, but all across Arkansas officers are being recruited and then moving on to different organizations shortly after.”

Henderson also saw one case of burglary and two cases of motor vehicle theft, which has statistically remained about the same the past three years.

“There’s definitely a learning curve in students after they commit an offense,” Campbell said, “There’s a process they go through in order to hopefully keep them from committing more offenses that helps us from seeing repeat offenders here on campus.”

For more information on campus safety, visit https://www.hsu.edu/pages/campus-safety/. If you are placed in an emergency situation, call 911, and for non-emergencies call the Campus Police Department at 870-230-5098 or visit them at their office in the Meeks house.