East TN News
East TN News



a closer look at UT crime

By John M Disque

Edited By James Howell

11/17/2011

 

 

While looking over Knoxville’s crime activity I couldn’t help but notice an unusual amount concentrated on the UT campus.

 

The agenda was to see which areas of town were moving crime to other areas and exactly where it is today compared to this time last year.

 

When I came across a “forcible rape case” on UT campus on 11/11/11, I wondered why it hadn’t been reported to any media or if there was a conscious effort to keep it out of the media.

 

Regardless – I chose to take a closer look…..

 

How do UT’s on-campus crime-rates stand relative to schools of the same size, same student population, same on-campus population and same city/town crime rates?

 

By relating UT to four similar colleges, (Colorado State University, University of Texas at San Antonio, University of North Carolina at Wilmington and San Jose State University,) I was able to come up with reasonable averages. I went in-depth and studied the numbers for 2008, 2009 & 2010 to see exactly what was increasing and decreasing.

 

Listed below are "on campus crime rates" only....



2008



In 2008 UT was very lenient on drugs and alcohol with very low arrest-rates and a very high amount of violations.

Arson and weapons violations were also above average while the burglary and auto theft averages were below national average.


 

Liquor Violations (National Average = 291 / 36% arrest-rate)

 

 

UT =  566  (18% arrested)(Above Average Violations / Below Average Arrest-rate)

 

Colorado State University = 191 (66% arrested)

University of Texas = 494 (53% arrested)

University of North Carolina = 452 (less than 1% arrested)

San Jose State = 26 (23% arrested)

 

Robberies (National Average = 3.75)

 

 

UT = 3 (Average)

 

Colorado State University = 0

University of Texas = 0

University of North Carolina = 0

San Jose State = 15



Burglary (National Average = 25.5

 

 

UT = 12 (Below Average)

 

Colorado State University = 12

University of Texas = 6

University of North Carolina = 58

San Jose State = 30



Auto Theft (National Average = 4.5)

 

 

UT = 3 (Below Average)

 

Colorado State University = 2

University of Texas = 3

University of North Carolina  = 3

San Jose State = 10



Arson (National Average = 1.5)

 

 

UT = 3 (Above Average)

 

Colorado State University = 5

University of Texas = 0

University of North Carolina  = 0

San Jose State = 1



Weapons Violations (National Average = 2.5)

 

 

UT = 8 (Above Average)

 

Colorado State University = 0

University of Texas = 2

University of North Carolina  = 1

San Jose State = 7



Drugs (National Average = 78 / 49% arrested)

 

 

UT = 112 (29% arrested) (Above Average Violations / Below Average Arrest-rate)

 

Colorado State University = 57 (40% arrested)

University of Texas = 106 (87% arrested)

University of North Carolina = 73 (21% arrested)

San Jose State = 74 (46% arrested)



Forcible Sex Offenses (National Average = 3.5)

 

 

UT = 4 (Average)

 

Colorado State = 2

University of Texas = 2

University of North Carolina = 1

San Jose State = 9

 

 



2009



In 2009 the “National Forcible Sex Rate” fell while UT’s rate rose.

UT increased “the alcohol arrest-rate” and the number of violations fell substantially but they’re still above national averages.

For the 2nd year in a row UT is well below the “Burglary Average” and the arson rate dropped to 0 while the auto-theft rate rose.




Liquor Violations (National Average = 299 / 29% arrested-rate)

 

 

UT =  461 / (36% arrested) (Above average violations / Above average arrest-rate)

 

Colorado State University = 92 (62% arrested)

University of Texas = 382 (29% arrested)

University of North Carolina = 663 (Less than 1% arrested)

San Jose State = 60 (25% arrested)



Robberies (National Average = 1.5)

 

 

UT = 1 (Average)

 

Colorado State University = 1

University of Texas = 1

University of North Carolina = 1

San Jose State = 3



Burglary (National Average = 22)

 

 

UT = 8 (Below Average)

 

Colorado State University = 14

University of Texas = 11

University of North Carolina = 31

San Jose State = 31



Auto Theft (National Average = 5)

 

 

UT = 8 (Above Average)

 

Colorado State University = 7

University of Texas = 0

University of North Carolina = 2

San Jose State = 11



Arson (National Average = 5)

 

 

UT = 0 (Below Average)

 

Colorado State University = 14

University of Texas = 1

University of North Carolina = 0

San Jose State = 6



Weapons Violations (National Average = 4)

 

 

UT =  4 (Average)

 

Colorado State University = 1

University of Texas = 3

University of North Carolina = 8

San Jose State = 4



Drugs (National Average = 101 / 27% Arrest-rate)

 

 

UT = 97 (25% arrested) (Average)

 

Colorado State University = 110 (22% arrested)

University of Texas = 114 (42% arrested)

University of North Carolina = 98 (3% arrested)

San Jose State = 80 (40% arrested)



Forcible Sex Offenses (National Average = 2)

 

UT = 3 (Above Average)

 

Colorado State = 4

University of Texas = 0

University of North Carolina = 2

San Jose State = 3

 

 



2010



After a decrease in 2009, UT’s “Liquor Violations” rose back up and the  "2010 arrest-rate" was virtually nonexistent.

UT’s robbery-rates were cut down to 0 and, while the national burglary averages rose, UT’s rate remained below average.

Auto theft was also below average.

Weapons violations are slowly increasing around the country while UT’s went through the roof. This would indicate that the students feel less safe and that’s probably stemming for the serious on-campus alcohol problem.

UT’s drug issue is a concern, not because of the number of violations but because of the leniency in dealing with it. I’m expecting the drug violations and the alcohol problem to increase in 2011.




Liquor Violations (National Average = 302 / 27% arrest-rate)

 

 

UT = 515 (3% arrested) (Above average violations / Below average arrest-rate)

 

Colorado State University = 207 (45% arrested)

University of Texas = 341 (49% arrested)

University of North Carolina = 598 (2% arrested)

San Jose State = 63 (11% arrested)



Robberies (National Average = 2)

 

 

UT = 0 (Below Average)

 

Colorado State University = 2

University of Texas = 0

University of North Carolina = 0

San Jose State = 6



Burglary (National Average = 26)

 

 

UT = 16 (Below Average)

 

Colorado State University = 49

University of Texas = 3

University of North Carolina = 16

San Jose State = 36



Auto Theft (National Average = 8)

 

 

UT = 4 (Below Average)

 

Colorado State University = 7

University of Texas = 1

University of North Carolina = 8

San Jose State = 16



Arson (National Average = 3)

 

 

UT = 3 (Average)

 

Colorado State University = 8

University of Texas = 0

University of North Carolina = 1

San Jose State = 3



Weapons Violations (National Average = 5)

 

 

UT = 30 (Above Average)

 

Colorado State University = 3

University of Texas = 0

University of North Carolina = 12

San Jose State = 6



Drugs (National Average = 107 / 56% Arrest-rate)

 

 

UT = 74 (12% arrested) (Below average violations / Below average arrest-rate)

 

Colorado State University = 126 (87% arrested)

University of Texas = 96 (68% arrested)

University of North Carolina = 161 (7% arrested)

San Jose State = 44 (61% arrested)





Forcible Sex Offenses (Average = 3)

 

 

UT = 1 (Below average)

 

**Colorado State = 4

University of Texas = 4

University of North Carolina = 3

San Jose State = 2



Conclusion – Relative to other schools UT does a good job of keeping violent crime off campus, but they have a serious issue with alcohol violations and they have a potential disaster if they don’t crack down on the drug problem.

 

 

University Of Tennessee Overall Crime grade = B-

 

 

Published in East TN News November 17, 2011

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