Rider safety reports show rise in assault cases

By Jay Roberson

Rider Public Safety disclosed its 2023 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report over a month ago, but The Rider News was not able to speak to the Director of Public Safety until Oct. 29 despite multiple requests since its release Sept. 28. These statistics are released yearly in compliance with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act enacted in 1990.

Over the course of the month since the report’s release, The Rider News attempted to contact Director of Public Safety James Waldon at least seven times via email and phone call before Public Safety scheduled an interview for Oct. 29 at 10:30 a.m. Waldon then rescheduled for 12:30 p.m, then again for 6 p.m., after a reporter spent an hour waiting in the Public Safety Office and another hour waiting for a follow-up confirmation on the interview.

Though it is standard journalistic practice to record interviews to ensure accuracy, Waldon did not allow the telephone interview to be recorded. When asked his reasoning, he stated, “That’s just what I said.”

In 2023, there were three reported cases of aggravated assault on campus, the largest number since 2008 when three were recorded, according to Rider’s safety reports.

By comparison, in 2021 and 2022, there were zero reported cases of aggravated assault on campus. According to prior Security and Fire Safety Reports, the last time aggravated assault was reported was one case in 2019.

According to Waldon, in 2023, “For one of those incidents, there were two suspects, and both were charged with aggravated assault, so you had two bodies and one incident, so it was really only one incident.” 

Individuals who committed the assault were not Rider community members, according to Waldon. As aggravated assault cases rose on campus, there was also an increase in weapon law violations on campus, increasing from zero to three between the years of 2022 and 2023. 

“Both of those are tied back to the two aggravated assault instances. I think there were three weapons defenses, but, in reality, it’s the same principle, there was only one weapon… one of those weapons was a set of keys,” said Waldon. 

The annual safety report suggested a decrease in rapes at Rider last year, compared to the prior two years.

In 2023 only two cases of rape were reported while in 2022 five cases were recorded, three occuring in 2021, and in 2021 eight cases were reported with two occurring in 2017 and 2020.

“There wasn’t as much of a decrease as you think, because, in previous years, you see the eight number… two of those numbers were reported,” Waldon said.

According to the report, there were two cases of arson, compared to zero in recent years. 

“Those were just people setting off fireworks in the dormitory, even though they were just fireworks, they’re counted as arson,” Waldon said. 

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