Crime in Decline, Police Report Says

Mathew Biadun | News Editor

Violent crimes are down, a recent report by the ECSU police revealed, but drug offenses are up.

Eastern’s 2025 Uniform Campus Crime & Fire Safety Report came out on September 30th, containing statistics from 2022-2024. Overall, crime reported at Eastern has declined over that time span, with some key exceptions.

Reports of sexual crimes dropped significantly over that time. While there were ten reports of rape and three reports of fondling in 2023, the numbers in 2024 dropped to four and one, respectively. Reports of theft also declined, with reported burglary decreasing from two reports in 2023 to zero in 2024, while reports of motor vehicle theft halved from two in 2023 to one in 2024. 

Reports of domestic violence decreased from eight in 2023 to four in 2024. However, reports of stalking increased from two in 2022 and 2023, to three in 2024. 

There were no reports of arson in any year, and no reports of any weapons violations.

However, the largest rise in reported crime was related to drug use. Disciplinary referrals for drug abuse violations doubled from six in 2023 to twelve in 2024. Liquor law violations remain high at 136 in 2024, up from 120 a year prior.

Eastern saw no reports of hate crimes in either year, nor did the university suffer any fire damage, although there was one fire reported in the 2022 fire log.

The police data was revealed according to the Clery Act, a law passed in 1990 that required colleges and universities to release data about crime in and around their campuses. Students can find and read the report here.