Affiliations of crime victims released again

Penn's Division of Public Safety has announced that it will resume releasing crime victims' specific affiliations with the University.

The division had decided earlier this year to only indicate whether crime victims are affiliated with the University, ceasing to distinguish between students, faculty and staff members.

DPS had previously made these affiliations available to the public, and instituted the change without any formal policy announcement.

The decision to make this information available again was announced last Wednesday.

"As a matter of principle, and in an effort to partner with campus media, the Division of Public Safety will provide student, staff and faculty affiliation with the University," officials wrote in a statement.

They refused further comment.

The release of victims' affiliations with Penn makes it possible to track the number of crimes targeted specifically at students.

Division officials, however, have expressed concern that making the information known could compromise victims' privacy.

Crime-reporting laws in Pennsylvania do not require the division to release specific affiliations, though police at several other universities across the country make this information available either due to other states' laws or of their own volition.

Federal law - as dictated by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure Act of Campus Security and Campus Crime Statistics - requires that all private and public universities report the date, time, location, complaint and nature of each crime recorded in the area including and surrounding the University

Penn has had a mixed history with crime reporting. It was accused by the government of underreporting crime in the mid-1990s and was found to be in violation of crime-reporting law in 1998, which Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush has said stemmed from confusion over guidelines.

But officials have said they now err on the side of over-reporting crimes to the government and the public, including in their tallies offenses that occur in areas adjacent to University property as well as on-campus crime.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.