Editor's note: The following contains references to sexual violence that may be distressing for some readers.
Each fall, the Eastern Michigan University Police Department releases a fire and safety report with statistics from the past three years.
This year's report states, “The 2025 Eastern Michigan University Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is provided to you as part of the University’s commitment to your safety on campus. The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is made available to EMU students, employees, prospective students and prospective employees as required by the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act.”
The report begins with a welcome message from Eastern Michigan University Chief of Police Matthew Lige.
“The Eastern Michigan University Police Department (EMUPD) is committed to providing an inclusive environment for students to be inspired, for faculty and staff to inspire, and for the many visitors who enjoy the cultural, sporting and charity events to feel a sense of safety and security while on campus,” he said in the message.
This message also describes new services and programs implemented on campus such as the Code Blue emergency phones, approximately 500 cameras that can recognize guns and the new emergency app called Eagle Ready.
The report also thoroughly describes emergency notification systems, important contacts and phone numbers, evacuation procedures and system tests before listing the data from the past three years.
Here are a few statistics that stand out. The full report is available on the EMU police web page at www.emich.edu/police/index.
Violence
In the past three years, there have been zero cases of murder or manslaughter.
Aggravated assault is defined as “an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury." This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon and is likely to produce death or great bodily harm. There have been six reported cases of aggravated assault on campus in the past year, which is a slight decrease from nine and 10 cases in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Sexual offenses and domestic violence
Sexual offenses are some of the most numerous crimes at EMU. In 2024, there were 14 reported cases of rape on campus. This is a slight decrease from 2023’s 18 reported cases and 2022’s 19 reported cases. The report explains that “rape is defined as the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”
Reports of rape at EMU in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and locations reported.
Fondling, defined as “the touching of the private parts of another person for the purposes of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity,” had a notable decrease in 2024. In 2022, there were 10 reported cases of fondling, and in 2023, 12 cases were reported. However, in 2024, only two cases were reported.
There have been zero reported cases of incest or statutory rape in the past three years at EMU.
In short, dating violence is described as physical or sexual abuse, or threats of such abuse, in a relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. On the other hand, domestic violence is classified as violence committed by a spouse, intimate partner, a person who shares a child in common or a person living with the victim. Visit the report for the full definitions.
Number of reports of domestic violence by EMU students by location of incident.
At Eastern Michigan University, there have been no accounts of dating violence in the last three years, but there have been several of domestic violence on campus. There were 37 cases reported in 2022, 38 in 2023 and 33 in 2024. Almost all of these cases have been reported in the residence halls or apartments, with only three over the years being off-campus reports.
Cases of stalking at EMU have also been reduced from previous years. Stalking refers to “engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to: (i) Fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or (ii) Suffer substantial emotional distress.” In 2022, there were 16 reported cases of stalking on campus, and 14 reports were made in 2023, whereas in 2024, only six reports were made.
Number of reports of rape, fondling, stalking and domestic violence reported at EMU in 2024.
Arrests
In 2024, eight arrests were made by campus police. One of these was an on-campus drug law violation, and five arrests were made for drug law violations on public property. The other two arrests made were for illegal weapons possession on public property.
EMU campus police arrests by arrest type.
Judicial referral
Campus police made 37 judicial referrals for drug law violations in 2024, all of which were in the campus residence halls and apartments. This is a significant increase compared to the nine referrals in 2022 and the 13 in 2023.
Last year, there were also 37 liquor law violations on campus, 36 of which happened in the residence halls and apartments. There were 19 violations in 2022 and 15 violations in 2023.
For more information, visit the EMU 2025 Annual Security and Fire Report available on the campus police website.
