The University of Wyoming Police Department reported 14 campus sexual assaults in 2015. That’s up from nine sexual assaults the year before.
Police Chief Mike Samp says this year’s number is just shy of a record 15 sexual assaults at the University in 2013.
“It’s consistent with some of our higher years that we’ve ever had reported,” says Samp. “We think the vast majority of those are possibly due to increased reporting options—making sure that students are aware it’s okay to come forward. We hope that we’re not seeing an increase in the actual number of sexual assaults.”
Samp says eight of last year’s sexual assaults were reported directly to the UW Police Department. The other seven were first reported to other entities on campus like coordinators with the STOP Violence program.
Samp says his Department and other student support providers have made educating students about sexual assault a top priority.
“Making sure that they’re aware of what’s right and wrong, making sure that consent is always on the top of their mind if they’re engaging in that type of activity,” says Samp. “The vast majority of sexual assault suspects are men, but there are a lot of good men out there, too—and being able to step up and intervene in the event that something happens can help somebody in the long term.”
Crime rates were down in 2015 in every other category aside from sexual assault. Samp presented the statistics to the UW Board of Trustees. The University’s full Clery Report will be released in September.
View UW's 2014 Safety and Security Report here.