On Sept. 29, in order to fulfill the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, Mercer University released to students a copy of the 2023 Campus Crime report, which covers statistics from the 2022 calendar year. The University also released information to help students access the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's (GBI) sex offender registry.
The report provides specific instructions reporting crimes; definitions for various crimes as reported in the statistics; and a list of informational and training sessions conducted in 2022 by Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), MERPO, Human Resources, the Office of Academic and Advising Services, the Title IX Office, Housing and Residence Life, Fraternity and Sorority Programs, the Law School and the Medical School.
Also included in the report are thorough descriptions of campus police policies on student use of drugs and alcohol on campus as well as a list of policies concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. In the case of a campus emergency, the report describes the various systems of alerts for emergencies and crimes on campus.
In the statistics section, most numbers stayed consistently low except for a few crimes. MERPO reported 13 cases of rape in student housing facilities, up from eight the previous year, and 53 liquor law violations in student housing facilities, down from 96 violations in 2021 and 132 violations in 2020. Drug abuse violations in student housing facilities remained consistent at 21 violations, down slightly from 29 last year.
According to the sex offender registry, 451 sexual offenders live in Bibb County, GA. Of those 451, 420 live in the city of Macon. 18 of the 451 are “sexual predators,” either labeled as a sexually violent predator between 1996 and 2006 or have been determined by the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board to potentially be at risk of perpetrating sexually violent offenses in the future.
Per capita, Bibb County has almost 2.88 sex offenders per 1000 residents. That is more than Fulton County, which has 1.01 per 1000 residents, or DeKalb County which has 2.67 per every 1000 residents. The city of Atlanta has 2.75 sex offenders per 1000 people.
MERPO’s phone number is (478) 301-4357. CAPS’ phone number is (478) 301-2862. Remember to exercise due diligence and safe practices when walking to and from your vehicle, being alone late at night on or off campus and locking up your vehicle, dorm or apartment.
Henry Keating '24 is a Journalism and History student at Mercer. He has worked at The Cluster as SGA correspondent, State and Local News Editor, Managing Editor and now as the Editor-in-Chief. Henry has held internships at the Macon Newsroom, Macon Telegraph, and Greenville Post and Courier. He enjoys backpacking, rom-coms, pottery and photography.
