The ACU Police Department clarified its protocol around hazing in this year’s annual crime and safety report, released last week.

The report outlined significant crime statistics from 2025, including two reports of rape, six reported burglaries, four reported cases of theft of a motor vehicle, three referrals for disciplinary action and 26 referrals for disciplinary action for liquor law violations.

The bulk of the report, however, is devoted to outlining ACUPD’s policies and procedures, and is required under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

The Clery Act was created in 1990 to require transparency and accountability for campus crime at universities receiving federal financial aid.

The newest section of the report covers hazing and was added this year as part of the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act passed in 2024.

According to the report, hazing is on or off campus, intentional or reckless acts for pledging or initiating a student into an organization. For example, physical brutality, sleep deprivation, forced ingestion of substances, coercing students into unreasonable risk, and any activity that threatens or adversely affects mental health.

Anyone who suspects hazing can make a report to the dean of students, ACUPD, a student organization sponsor, and the director of student organizations and activities.

ACUPD police chief Jason Ellis said that he hopes the report provides clarity surrounding what hazing is and how it should be reported.

“Hazing can sometimes be normalized within groups of students,” Ellis said. “They may be reluctant to report it because they don’t want to get their organization and friends in trouble, so we want students to understand that they need to say something or come to us.”

While the main focus of the document is on ACUPD’s policies and procedures, Lieutenant Bucky Wright, who was in charge of putting this year’s report together, said most people stop at the beginning of the document, which lists the last three years’ crime statistics.

Wright said that while he thinks it’s important to be transparent and keep people updated about what is happening at ACUPD, the numbers on the report can be misleading at times because a crime is listed anytime an allegation is made, regardless of whether it was true or an investigation continued.

“This does not mean that the allegation was found to be accurate or true or did happen,” Wright said. “It’s just that the allegation was presented to us, and so there could have been an investigation done. There could have been an investigation requested not to be done. Either way, if it fits under the Clery requirements, we have to state it as a stat.”

For example, when it comes to the six reported burglaries this year, half of them were at the former Sherrod Hall, where demolition began in May 2025. So, while the crime was listed as a residence hall burglary, it was really a construction site, said Wright.

Another number that ACUPD is focused on is theft of a motor vehicle, which increased from zero last year to four reported cases this year.

While ACUPD takes this seriously, Ellis said students need to be smart about taking care of their cars. He said that in at least one of the cases, a key had been left in the vehicle, making it easier to steal.

Wright also said that electric scooters count as a motor vehicle and lately there has been a trend of students taking their friends’ scooters without permission, which can be dangerous.

“They need to realize that if they think they’re being funny or they think it’s no big deal, burglary of a motor vehicle is a felony,” Wright said. “I wouldn’t borrow anybody’s scooter, unless they have permission to do so.”

The report also included fire statistics for the year. Dillard Hall had one cooking fire, which resulted in up to $99 in damage and Edwards Hall had one fire from a lighter with up to $99 in damage. 

To read the full report by ACUPD, go here.