The Clery Act

Consumer Information Requirements and
Disclosures
 Campus Security Act
 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
Janet Dodson
Tuition Exchange, Inc
[email protected]
Today’s Focus
What is the Clery Act (CA)
 Requirements
 The Players – (CSA’s)
 Campus Security Authorities
 Understanding the Basics
 Campus Crime Reporting
 Clery Reportable Offenses

Today’s Focus con't
Geographic Area
 Timely Warning Notices
 Emergency Notifications and Response
Testing
 Fire Safety
 Missing Person
 Notices
 Policy Statements
 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
 Resources

What is the Clery Act
The Crime Awareness and Campus
Security Act
 Section 485 of HEA
 Records and reporting

◦ Annually
◦ No later than October 1
Requirements
Are complex
 Need coordination
 Involve most campus offices
 Records and reports are prescribed

The Players – “CSA’s”
President
 Senior administrators
 Safety administrators
 Student life employees

◦ Resident hall
◦ Athletics
 coaches
◦ Financial aid
◦ Student accounts
Campus Security Authorities

Any school employee with significant
responsibility for…
◦ Students, or
◦ Campus activities, or
◦ Building relationships

HINT! Focus on the function of the
employee
Campus Security Authorities
Differ from Clery Compliance Officers
(CCO)
 CSA includes ALL personnel involved
with:

◦ Public safety
◦ Security
◦ Student advisors

CCO have specific assigned duties for
insuring school compliance with ALL
Clery Act elements
Understanding the Basics



Campus crime reporting
Timely warning notices
Emergency notifications
◦ Testing



Fire safety reporting
Missing student procedures
Notices
◦ Prospective students
◦ Employees

Policy statements
Campus Crime Reporting

By October 1 requirements
◦ Publish and disseminate annual report
◦ Crime stats for current calendar year and two
preceding years

Should the crime be included?
◦ Was the crime reported to CSA?
◦ Is the crime one of the 12 Clery-reportable
offenses?
◦ Did the crime occur in a Clery-reportable
geographic area?
Clery-Reportable Offenses


Murder
Sex Offenses
◦ Forcible
 rape
◦ Non-forcible






Robbery
Aggravated assault
Burglary
Motor vehicle theft
Manslaughter
Arson
Clery-Reportable Offenses
con't

Arrests or persons referred for campus
disciplinary action for:
◦ Liquor law violations and/or
◦ Drug-related violations and/or
◦ Weapon Possession

Hate crimes
◦ When the victim is intentionally selected
because of actual or perceived race, gender,
religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or
disability
Geographic Area

Three types of school property
◦ Campus and
◦ Non-campus buildings or property and
◦ Public property areas
HINT! Publish a map in your annual security
report depicting the boundaries of these
areas
Geographic Area con't

Campus
◦ Buildings or property owned or controlled by the
school
◦ Branch campus and geographically disconnected
areas

Public property
◦ Adjacent sidewalks, streets or public parking lots

Non-campus
◦ owned or controlled by a school recognized
student organization
Timely Warning Notices

Requires schools to communicate to the
campus community timely
◦ Serious crime
◦ Emergency

Timely Warning Notices must be
considered for CA crimes when
◦ Reported to CSA’s or local police
◦ Determined to represent a serious or
continuing threat to students and employees
Timely Warning Notices con't

Notices must be
◦
◦
◦
◦

Substantively accurate
Specific enough to be helpful
Not downplaying
Transparent from the beginning
Hindsight is 20/20
◦ Department of Education audits
◦ Media focus
Emergency Notifications and
Response Testing

MUST distribute to the campus
community upon confirmation of a
dangerous campus situation
◦ regardless of whether a crime is involved.
HINT! Think team approach
Fire Safety

On campus residential facilities?
◦ Must publish fire safety report annually
 Include:
 Fire statistics
 Injuries and/or deaths related to fire
 Fire safety system and practices
 Value of property damage
 Number of regular supervised fire drills
Fire Safety con't

Campus policies regarding:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Portable electric appliances
Smoking
Open flames
Evacuation procedures
 Staff
 Students
 Faculty

Future improvements
Missing Person

Provide on campus housing?
◦ Establish missing student notification policy
for students living in residential facilities
◦ Provide students the option to identify a
specific contact person

Determine a student is missing?
◦ Age of student?
 18 or under..
 At least 2 mandatory notifications to emergency contact(s)
Notices

Annually to
◦ All current students
◦ All prospective students
◦ All employees

Must include at least the following
◦ Statement of report’s availability
◦ Statement that paper copy is available upon
request and how to obtain one
◦ Description of the contents
◦ Exact electronic address of the report
Policy Statements

Annual Crime and Fire Safety Reports
◦ MUST contain statements about your…
 Policies
 Procedures
 Practices
Violence Against Women Act
(VAWA)

A comprehensive approach to violence
against women
◦ Holding offenders accountable
Provides improved the criminal justice
response to violence against women
 Ensures that victims and their families
have access to the services needed to
achieve safety and rebuilding their lives
 Is creating positive changes

Resources

General information:
◦ http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/campus.html

The President’s Guide to the Clery Act
◦ http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Documents/APresidents-Guide-to-the-Clery-Act.pdf
Higher Education Act 485(f), 485(i) & 485(j)
Clery Act and Related Campus Security
Provisions
 Handbook for Campus Crime Reporting

◦ http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/handbook.p
df

Factsheet: The Violence Against Women Act
◦ www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/vawa_factsheet.pd
f
Let’s Recap
What is the Clery Act (CA)
 Requirements
 The Players – (CSA’s)
 Campus Security Authorities
 Understanding the Basics
 Campus Crime Reporting
 Clery Reportable Offenses

Let’s Recap con’t
Geographic Area
Timely Warning Notices
Emergency Notifications and Response
Testing
 Fire Safety
 Missing Person
 Notices
 Policy Statements
 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
 Resources



Questions…