A copy of the 2020 Wheaton College Annual Security and Fire Safety Report was made available on Monday of this past week by Public Safety. The report includes statistics for 2017, 2018, and 2019 calendar years. It includes statistics on crimes that occurred on campus, in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by Wheaton College, and on public property within or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus. The full report also includes the Annual Fire Safety Report for the college.
The report also includes institutional policies concerning campus security, such as policies concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and fires in campus residential buildings. You may also obtain a paper copy of this report by contacting the Public Safety office at 508-286-8213.
SUMMARY OF THE CASE REPORT
The following paragraph summarizes the crime statistics for calendar years 2017, 2018, and 2019, in accordance with Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) procedures and the Clery Act.
In 2017, the campus reported 15 sex offense cases, 3 burglary cases, 104 disciplinary referrals, 3 dating violence cases, and 2 stalking cases. In 2018, the campus reported 15 sex offense cases, 7 burglary cases, 4 arson cases, 80 disciplinary referrals, 2 dating violence cases, and 4 stalking cases. In 2019, the campus reported 15 sex offense cases, 10 burglary cases, 80 disciplinary referrals, 4 dating violence cases, and 6 stalking cases. To see the full breakdown, visit the Security and Fire Safety Report.
The Wheaton Public Safety also offers advice on how to protect yourself from possible victimization. Though this advice is meant to help prevent crime, it is given with the recognition that even when taking all precautions, many crimes still take place and it is of utmost importance that Wheaton students have the information and aid they need to report such crimes.
Self-Defense Instruction
Rape Aggression Defense Training is an on-campus program lead by Certified Public Safety Officers serving as instructors. They teach community members how to prevent being victimized. The course provides options for community members in defending themselves if confronted or attacked. The Department of Public Safety provides these classes throughout the academic year to support students’ safety.
Residence Hall Staff Training
This training includes crime prevention, safety awareness, fire prevention and policies and procedures to deal with safety concerns and reports of crime specifically in residence halls.
Laptop Theft Prevention
Register Your Laptop. Laptops and other portable electronic devices are easy targets for theft. In addition to the cost of replacement, they often have personal information and intellectual property that can be difficult or impossible to recover or protect.
Shelter-in-Place Procedure
The general procedure during a life-threatening emergency is to remain inside the building you are currently in and seek a place of safety. Remain in a locked interior room and stay away from windows. Leaving a building may expose you to danger.
Sexual Assault/Harassment
The Policy outlines how the College will respond when the Title IX Coordinator or a Designated Official receives notice of alleged Prohibited Conduct by a student or staff member of the College occurring in any education program or activity of the College against a person in the United States. Any individual seeking to report allegations of Prohibited Conduct by a student of the College occurring in any education program or activity of the College may do so by reporting via the Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Reporting Form, or by contacting the Title IX Coordinator via mail, email ([email protected]), phone (508-286-3231), or in person at the Title IX Office. If you have experienced an assault, you may also contact the New Hope Rape Crisis 24-Hour Hotline for further support.
Determining a category to initiate a response: When a member of our community identifies a concern, they will initiate a notification process, which may take the form of a work request communicated to Physical Plant, through the standard work order process, or it may be communicated through contact with Public Safety. When contacted, the nature of the concern will be categorized by Physical Plant or Public Safety. If the concern is found to be urgent, it will be treated as an emergency or critical incident, with corresponding response protocols.
The following are a few of the policies that may be forgotten or overlooked on occasion.
WEAPONS POLICY
The General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts prohibit the possession of any of the following on the campus of any college or university:
| Firearm | Switch knife or any knife with an automatic spring release |
| Stiletto | Knife with a blade of over one and one-half inches |
| Dagger | Slingshot |
| Dirk knife | Blackjack |
| Any knife with a double-edge blade | Metallic knuckles or of a similar substance |
Only police officers are authorized to possess firearms on campus. The possession or storage of any dangerous weapon on Wheaton College property is unlawful and may lead to judicial/criminal action against the offender. In Massachusetts conviction for the illegal possession of a firearm carries a mandatory one-year jail sentence.
SUMMARY OF THE ALCOHOL AND DRUG POLICIES
While alcohol is allowed on campus in the possession of a student over the age of 21, Public Safety also recognizes that some students choose to drink, and in these situations, Safety Always Matters Most (SAMM).
• Persons under 21 years of age may not host other persons in their room, over-or-under the age of 21, who are possessing or consuming alcohol. Also, no person may possess or use funnels or play drinking games, with or without alcohol.
• No person over the age of 21 may possess or consume alcohol in any other place other than their room, unless the event is registered for alcohol. However, at these events, persons over 21 years of age may possess or consume alcohol that was registered and provided by the event hosts.
• Persons 21 years of age or older may not purchase or distribute alcoholic beverages to persons under 21 years of age.
Though these rules may be a deterrent from reporting of a medical emergency, students who seek appropriate medical aid due to an incident of intoxication either for themselves or for other students generally will not be subject to disciplinary action for that incident with respect to Wheaton’s alcohol policy.
SUMMARY OF THE DRUG POLICY
• The unlawful possession, use, or distribution of controlled substances or of illicit drugs is prohibited on college property and at all college-sponsored events.
• The use, possession, distribution, or cultivation of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes is strictly prohibited in any Wheaton College residence hall or on any other premises; nor is it allowed at any college-sponsored event or activity off campus or any Student Organized event of activity.
• The misuse of medication or prescription drugs, including opiates/pain-killers and other psychoactive drugs is prohibited. This includes taking medication or prescription drugs not prescribed to you, taking more than the recommended dose, sharing prescriptions, or the use of prescriptions for a reason other than the intended use.
• The use and possession of drug paraphernalia is strictly prohibited in any Wheaton College residence hall or on any college premises.
Counseling and Health Services, and the Office of Student Life are available to individuals who are concerned about their own drug use, or are affected by the drug use of others. Seeking confidential assistance from or being referred to these or other services will not in itself be cause for disciplinary action by Wheaton. All proceedings will be kept confidential.
FREE/CONFIDENTIAL COUNSELING AND TREATMENT
The Counseling Center offers a variety of services including brief consultations, assessment, short-term individual counseling, group counseling, psycho-educational classes, crisis intervention, and outreach. They also offer the services of a Case Manager to assist students in accessing resources on and off-campus (e.g. referrals to off-campus counselors, making arrangements for a private room on campus to Skype with therapists at home, assisting with insurance and transportation questions, etc.). Services are offered to currently enrolled full-time students. The Counseling Center staff is also available to consult with any member of the Wheaton community, as well as family members, about students of concern. Wheaton College staff members are licensed psychologists, licensed independent clinical social workers, licensed mental health counselors and graduate-level psychology/counseling/social work trainees under close supervision by the licensed staff members.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Wheaton College will not tolerate any form of violence in the workplace. Workplace violence may be defined as either physical or verbal aggression and may occur in various forms, including verbal threats and assaults. All employees and supervisors report any or all incidents, that they perceive as potentially violent, directly to Safety and Security.
DISCRIMINATION POLICY
Respect for the rights of all and for the differences among us is essential for the Wheaton community. Discrimination or harassment of others because of race, ethnicity, nation of origin, religious affiliation, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, physical disability, or other characteristics has no place in an intellectual community.
HAZING POLICY
In compliance with the hazing laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Wheaton does not permit hazing of any sort whether by organizations or individual students. Hazing has been defined as “any conduct or method of initiation into any student organization, whether on public or private property, which willfully or recklessly endangers the physical or mental health of any student or other person.”
Wheaton students are the members of the community with the most inside knowledge of what is occurring during campus events and in residential buildings. Therefore, please take the initiative to report anything that may cause harm to someone or a part of the campus. If you observe a crime, suspicious situation, or see a safety problem, please immediately notify Public Safety. Your awareness is essential to campus crime prevention.
Non-emergency or business calls, dial 508- 286-8213.
Emergencies, dial 508-286-3333.
UPDATE:
According to a few sources on Wheaton’s campus, the college may be transitioning from Public Safety Officers to a private security company.