Our View

This year’s Clery Act, the yearly report filed by colleges and universities across the country, has shown Simpson to have a “consistent” level of crime, with a slight decrease in areas such as forcible sex offenses.

We shouldn’t just be relieved at the drop in this statistic, we should demand it. Part of the reason many of the current students chose Simpson, as opposed to a larger state school or private institution located in a more urban location, is because they perceived the campus community as “safe.” Each year, the results from the Clery Act should serve as a sigh of relief, a reminder that those in charge of keeping Simpson students safe are doing their job.

However, there also needs to be an air of caution when reading this report. How many “forcible sex offenses” go unreported every year? These, like many other crimes, far too often are not even mentioned in the security log, and therefore do not become a part of a “shrinking statistic.” While Simpson students have come to expect low occurrences of thefts, vandalism and assaults, we know it isn’t safe to believe that reported statistics necessarily represent the reality.

Simpson is a relatively safe place to attend college. While the report confirms this and is encouraging, it should be read with caution.