Campus crime reviewed throughout academic year

Throughout the 2024-25 academic year, 561 crimes were reported to the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS). The data, which was compiled by The Daily, was made using reports of police blotter, a weekly account of SUDPS’s reported crimes.

The data visualization maps the location of each crime, distinguishing between each of them depending on whether they occurred on east or west campus. The separate sides of campus were determined by whether the longitude of the reported location fell to the left or right of the median location for all the reports. 

There were 161 bicycle and scooter thefts reported, 94 of which occurred on east campus and 67 on west campus. Bike thefts are either labeled as petty theft, if the bike was valued at or under $950, or grand theft, if the bike was valued at over $950. 

“We have engaged in targeted enforcement efforts [against bike thefts] that have resulted in some arrests,” Bill Larson, community outreach office for SUDPS, wrote in an email to The Daily.

According to Larson, parking areas for bicycles are also watched for suspicious activity during routine patrol checks. SUDPS and the University’s campus planning and architect office also review the parking areas for any lighting improvements and where additional parking areas may be needed.

In 2023, Stanford was awarded the Platinum Bicycle Friendly University Award for the fourth consecutive time, making it the only university to achieve this. Over 10,000 bikers ride across campus daily as well. SUDPS introduced several efforts, such as their bike safety class developed with Stanford Transportation, increased promotion of their Bicycle Safety Diversion Program and heightened law enforcement, to increase bike safety and decrease collisions across campus. 

“The Bicycle Safety Class was recently launched online. We plan to add more information on how to prevent bicycle theft in the next version,” Larson wrote. 

Larson noted several efforts that SUDPS is undertaking to combat bicycle theft. “Bicycle theft prevention is a topic in our Bicycle Safety Diversion Program, [SUDPS] is represented on the Bicycle Safety Committee which includes bicycle theft prevention, [and] bicycle theft prevention tips are shared with our community members at all resource fairs,” he wrote.

Through the school year, 40 vehicle thefts were also reported, with several of these occurring during a string of car thefts around Rains graduate housing in March. Seventeen of the vehicle thefts occurred on east campus and 23 on west campus.

“Whenever possible, we patrol parking lots and parking structures more frequently, especially at night,” Larson wrote. “We educate our community members on how to prevent vehicle theft, such as parking in lighted areas, doors locked, windows rolled up, and to consider a steering wheel immobilization device such as ‘The Club.’”  

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