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Reports of violent crime on Harvard’s campus decreased by 52 percent between 2023 and 2024, according to data from the Harvard University Police Department released Wednesday.
Reported hate crimes were also down in 2024, decreasing to seven from 10 in the previous year. But hate crimes attributed to religious motivation jumped from two in 2023 to five in 2024.
The data was released in compliance with the Clery Act, a federal law requiring universities that receive federal funding to publish annual data on campus crime. The figures in the report only cover crimes the University is required to disclose under the Clery Act, which excludes crimes like simple assaults and theft unless they are deemed hate crimes.
The number of aggravated assaults reported to HUPD fell by 43 percent, from 58 reports in 2023 to 33 reports last year. Robbery fell by 79 percent, from 28 to 6 reports.
Seven rapes were reported on campus in 2024, compared to the 16 reported in 2022 and the 17 reported in 2023. Reports of domestic violence fell from 10 reported cases in 2023 to four, none of which occurred on Harvard’s property.
The five religiously motivated hate crimes in 2024 were listed in the report as intimidation, vandalism, and larceny. Three of the incidents took place on Harvard’s campus. Other reported hate crimes included vandalism and aggravated assault, both on the basis of sexual orientation.
Though the report did not name specific incidents, HUPD investigated a “bias crime” last October after a Jewish student’s mezuzah briefly went missing before it was found three doors down from the student’s room. HUPD suggested it may have fallen, rather than been stolen.
HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano confirmed that the incident was one of the listed hate crimes, reported as a larceny.
Fears of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus have been heightened since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and Israel’s war in Gaza, which sparked a wave of student protests and trained media attention on Harvard. Hate crimes attributed to religious motivation appeared in the report for 2023 for the first time since 2021.
The Trump administration has used the incident to accuse Harvard of fostering antisemitism on campus — a characterization that the University objected to in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services last month.
The Cambridge Police Department and HUPD also investigated an act of vandalism after multiple antisemitic stickers were found around Harvard Square, including in front of Harvard Hillel, the University’s largest Jewish center. Catalano confirmed that the incident was reported as a hate crime on public property.
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Two of the 10 hate crimes in 2023 were motivated by religion, while the remainder were related to race, gender, and sexual orientation.
The report released Wednesday revealed an 11 percent decline in total crime on campus, with the total incidents reported to the department falling from 301 to 266 between 2023 and 2024. Still, campus crime figures remain above the 121 and 189 incidents reported to HUPD in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
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The rise has largely been driven by a spike in motor vehicle thefts since 2021. Motor vehicle theft rose to 165 reported cases in 2024, up from 139 the previous year.
The bulk of that increase can be attributed to growth in electric scooter thefts, which accounted for nearly 97 percent of all motor vehicle thefts reported in 2024. In an email, Catalano confirmed that 148 of the reported stolen vehicles were electric scooters or electric bicycles.
HUPD saw 96 reports of stolen bicycles, which are not classified as motor vehicle thefts, in 2024, according to Catalano. Burglary also rose by almost 10 percent, with 31 reports compared to 28 in 2023.
—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached at matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.
—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.
