Definitions of Crimes and Geography

CRIMES

Murder/Non-negligent Manslaughter: the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. 

Manslaughter by Negligence: the killing of another person through gross negligence. 

Sexual Assault:  An offense that meets the definition of rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape as used in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. Per the National Incident-Based Reporting System User Manual from the FBI UCR Program, A sex offense is “any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent.”

• Rape: 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. 

• Fondling: the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose 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.

In 2025, NIBRS Fondling was updated to Criminal Sexual Contact and is defined as, “The intentional touching of the clothed or unclothed body parts without consent of the victim for the purpose of sexual degradation, sexual gratification, or sexual humiliation.

The forced touching by the victim of the actor’s clothed or unclothed body parts, without consent of the victim for the purpose of sexual degradation, sexual gratification, or sexual humiliation. This offense includes instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of age or incapacity due to temporary or permanent mental or physical impairment or intoxication for the purpose of sexual degradation, sexual gratification, or sexual humiliation.” 

• Incest: sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.

• Statutory Rape: sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. 

Robbery: thetaking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear. 

Aggravated Assault: an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm.  

Burglary: the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. Attempted forcible entry is included. 

Motor Vehicle Theft: the theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. This includes thefts and attempted thefts of electric bikes and scooters.

Arson: any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc. 

Hate Crimes: a criminal offense that manifests evidence that the victim was intentionally selected because of the perpetrator's bias against the victim. For the purposes of this section, the categories of bias include the victim's actual or perceived race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, and disability. Hate crimes reported include all of the crimes listed here, plus destruction/damage/vandalism of property, intimidation, larceny/theft, and simple assault which are motivated by bias.  

• Simple Assault: an unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.  

• Larceny-Theft: the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another. Constructive possession is the condition in which a person does not have physical custody or possession but is in a position to exercise dominion or control over a thing. 

• Intimidation: to unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.   

• Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property: to willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.  

Domestic Violence: a felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed—(A) By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim; (B) By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common; (C) By a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the victim as a spouse or intimate partner; (D) By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred; or (E) By any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.

**Please note, after an evaluation of Indiana Criminal Code in 2024, starting in January 2025, acts of domestic and dating violence will be almost all be counted as domestic violence in statistics due to the Indiana Criminal code for domestic violence found under IC 35-31.5-2-78 and 35-31.5-2-128.

Dating Violence: violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party's statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. For the purposes of this definition—(A) Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse. (B) Dating violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence. 

Stalking: engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person's safety or the safety of others; or suffer substantial emotional distress. For the purposes of this definition—(A) Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person's property. (B) Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim. (C) Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may but does not necessarily require medical or other professional treatment or counseling. 

Hazing: Any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a person (whether individually or in concert with other persons), against another person or persons regardless of the willingness of such other person or persons to participate, that is committed during an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in, a student organization and causes or creates a risk, above the reasonable risk encountered in the course of participation in the institution of higher education or the organization of physical or psychological injury.

**Please note, statistics for these types of incidents will not be included in the 2025 published ASR. Hazing statistics will first get published in calendar year 2026.  

Unfounded Crimes: A crime reported to a campus security authority including campus law enforcement but omitted from the crime statistics because it was later determined through investigation by sworn or commissioned law enforcement personnel to have been false or baseless when made (meaning the crime did not occur and/or was never attempted). 

Arrest: persons processed by arrest, citation or summons. 

Referral for Disciplinary Action: the referral of any person to any official who initiates a disciplinary action of which a record is established and which may result in the imposition of a sanction. 

• Weapons Law Violations: carrying, possessing, etc.: the violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, concealment, or use of firearms, cutting instruments, explosives, incendiary devices, or other deadly weapons. This classification encompasses weapons offenses that are regulatory in nature. 

• Drug Abuse Violations: the violation of laws prohibiting the production, distribution, and/or use of certain controlled substances and the equipment or devices utilized in their preparation and/or use. The unlawful cultivation, manufacture, distribution, sale, purchase, use, possession, transportation, or importation of any controlled drug or narcotic substance. Arrests for violations of state and local laws, specifically those relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. 

• Liquor Law Violations: the violation of state or local laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, or use of alcoholic beverages, not including driving under the influence and drunkenness. 

Consent: The State of Indiana does not have a legal definition of consent.