Policy Order O-10

WHEREAS: In September 2009, The Daily Beast released the findings of a report that analyzed the crime reports of the last two years of almost 9,000 schools, weighing different crimes against each other, and factoring in incidents both on campus and nearby.

WHEREAS: This report concluded that Harvard ranked 20

WHEREAS: Harvard reported more on-campus crime than any other university on this list. The majority of these crimes were burglaries, and Harvard was also near the top for crimes in nearby public places (mostly robberies, assaults, and vehicular thefts.) Harvard was also the highest among the top 25 in terms of rapes listed; and

WHEREAS: MIT had one of the highest incidents of burglary in the country in 2007. In February 2009, two people were robbed in broad daylight near campus, one victim held "in a choke hold" and then punched, according the MIT Tech; and

WHEREAS: This stands in stark contrast to the significantly better than average results the Cambridge Police Department has achieved in comparison to comparable cities as reported in the 2009 Annual Crime Report; and

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and is hereby requested to confer with the appropriate department heads and report back to the University Relations Committee with all relevant city policies in regards to campus safety and a course of action on how best to address the statistics presented in the Daily Beast report in time for a University Relations Committee hearing tentatively planned for November.