What is the Clery Act?
The Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act was enacted by Congress in 1990 and was later renamed the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or more commonly known as the Clery Act.
The Jeanne Clery Act was enacted in the belief that crime awareness can prevent campus victimization.
The Clery Act requires colleges and universities across the U.S. participating in federal student aid to disclose information about campus crime statistics occurring on Clery geography along with their campus security and safety policies.
The U.S. Department of Education monitors compliance and can impose civil penalties per violation.
Non-compliance with the Clery Act is a very costly concern for colleges and universities. On April 20, 2022 fines increased from $59,017 to $62,689 for each infraction.
In addition to fines and punitive damages, institutions could lose financial aid funding causing significant damage to the institution’s reputation, deterring potential applicants, and impacting enrollment.
This data is submitted to the U.S. Department of Education - Campus Safety and Security on a yearly basis in the form of the Annual Security Report. It contains the three most recent years of campus crime statistics and security policy statements.
Amendments to the Clery Act
- In 1992 Amendments are made to implement policies and procedures to protect the rights of sexual assault survivors.
- In 2013 The Clery Act was expanded to include all incidents of sexual violence, sexual dating violence and stalking by President Barack Obama as part of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act or as it is commonly known as VAWA.
- In 2020 Title IX regulations are updated and go into effect significantly changing how institutions define and respond to sexual harassment.
Know the History
Jeanne Clery was a 19-year-old freshman at Lehigh University.
On April 5th, 1989 Jeanne was brutally raped and murdered in her dorm room by a fellow student.
Josoph Henry, a 20-year-old sophomore who lived off campus, entered her dorm room through three doors that had been propped open by boxes.
Josoph climbed the stairs to the Co-ed dorms and made his way to the third floor where the women lived after finding the 2nd floor door locked.
The first door he tried was Jeanne’s. She had left it unlocked for her roommate, who had misplaced her key.
Jeanne woke up as Henry was in the process of burglarizing her room. He tried to silence her by slashing her with a beer bottle. He raped and sodomized her and then strangled her with the wire from a Slinky toy.
Jeanne's parents, Connie and Howard Clery, were devastated by her death. They were not aware of the dangers that lurked around the campus. Her parents learned there had been thirty-eight violent crimes on the Lehigh Campus in the three years before Jeanne’s death.
This vital information was not provided to them at the time of enrolling Jeanne for school which could have aided in their decision to send their daughter somewhere else.
In 1987, the Clery’s founded Security On Campus, Inc. and began lobbying state legislatures and Congress to require colleges to report campus crimes.
Clery Act Requirements
Alarmed at the lack of transparency around crime and violence on college campuses, Jeanne’s parents, Connie and Howard, committed themselves to create enduring change. As part of the Clery Act requirements colleges and universities must:
- Keep a Public Crime Log
- Publish and distribute an Annual Security Report (ASR) by October 1st and must include security policies and crime statistics for the three years prior to publication. The ASR must be easily accessible to current and potential students, staff, faculty and parents.
- Provide Timely Warnings about crime posing an immediate or ongoing threat to students, staff and faculty. (PC-Alert-Black Board)
- Ensure certain basic rights for victims of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking
- Must have designated Campus Security Authorities (CSA's)
CSA's
Campus Security Authorities are employees who have "significant responsibility for students and campus activities." Through their role and responsibilities, under the Clery Act, CSA's are designated to receive and report criminal incidents to the Department of Campus Safety so that it may be included in the Colleges ASR.
CSA's must be trained on how to appropriately handle reporting crimes, victim relations and support, and related school policies.
Who They Are
Department of Campus Safety officers and personnel are CSAs, but other college employees such as Staff, Faculty members or anyone that has been given the authority by a campus administrator to take action or respond to particular issues on behalf of the institution.
Clery Act defines a CSA as any of the following categories:
- Officer members of the campus police department or a campus safety department of an institution, e.g. any member of PCs Campus Safety Department.
- Any individual(s) who have responsibility for campus security but are not members of the campus police department or a campus security department (e.g., an individual who is responsible for monitoring the entrance into institutional property, such as a security guard, front desk person[s], custodians and janitors).
- Any individual or organization specified in an institution’s statement of campus safety policy as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offense; or
- An official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student discipline and campus judicial proceedings
Some examples of designated CSA's at PC include but is not limited to:
- VP's
- Deans
- Program Managers and Directors
- Team Coaches
- Faculty Advisors
- Student Councilors and Advisors
- Athletic Director
- Campus Safety Employees
CSA Responsibilities
As a CSA you are responsible for the intake of information and notifying Campus Safety regarding incidents of crimes that have been reported to you. Statistics that fall under the Clery Act’s list of reportable crimes and occur within Clery geography must be disclosed.
If a CSA is notified of a crime in progress or an ongoing threat to the campus community, contact Campus Safety for assistance.
CSA's are also required to encourage crime victims and witnesses to report crimes to any Law Enforcement Agency or Campus Safety.
Encourage, Support, Assist!
- with encouragement also comes support!
- inform the survivor(s) or witness(es) of support services available to them and assist them in accessing them.
Occasionally, a person may want to seek assistance anonymously. For example, if you are a victim of sexual assault and wish to seek help, medical or otherwise, without contact with law enforcement, you can confidentially report the incident to a designated CSA. Your CSA can provide you with information and resources and serve as your agent to obtain the support you need without filing a police report.
Although CSAs must report the crime to Campus Safety, any information provided between the person reporting and the CSA is confidential and must remain as such! When reporting it to Campus Safety by removing any identifying information such as names, phone numbers, emails, etc. you can guarantee anonymity.
Reporting Crimes
A crime should be reported whenever a victim, witness, third party, or offender notifies you of a crime. Report the incident to Campus Safety the same day it is reported to you!
Good Faith Report
If a CSA receives information on a qualifying crime with no proof of the crime having been committed but believes the information was provided in good faith, then the crime is Clery Reportable.
When in doubt, ask
If you are not sure if the crime being reported to you is a Clery qualifying crime or incident, contact Campus Safety for more information and report it anyway. It is best to over report than not at all.
Qualifying Crimes and Geography
- Negligent Manslaughter
- Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter
- Aggravated Assault
- Robbery
- Burglary
- Motor Vehicle Theft
- Arson
- Sex Offenses (Rape, Fondling, Incest, Statutory Rape)
- Hate Crimes
- VAWA Offenses(Domestic Violence, Stalking, Dating Violence)
Hate Crimes: are criminal offenses that manifest evidence that the victim was intentionally targeted because of the perpetrators bias against the victim. it is important to note that a hate crime is not a separate, distinct crime, but an extension of a crime committed which was motivated by the offender’s bias. If the facts of the case indicate that the offender was motivated to commit the offense because of their bias against the victim’s;
- race
- religion
- ethnicity
- national origin
- gender
- gender identity
- sexual orientation
- or disabilities
the crime is classified as a hate crime and although there are many possible categories of bias, under Clery, only the eight categories mentioned above are reportable. Clery also requires institutions to collect crime statistics for hate crimes associated with either that of a primary crime or of a lesser offense such as;
- larceny
- simple assault
- intimidation
- destruction/damage/vandalism of property.
Other Reportable Crimes:
Campuses are also required to include statistics for persons arrested/not-arrested, or referred to disciplinary actions in regards to Drug, Alcohol, and Weapons violations or offenses.
How To Report It
- In an emergency situation call Campus Safety at 559-791-2440
- E-mail Campus Safety at Collegesafety@portervillecollege.edu
- Complete the Campus Security Authorities Crime Reporting Form
- Safety and Security Manager: Cameron Anderson; 559-791-2459 Cameron.anderson@portervillecollege.edu
- Campus Safety Officer ii: Leonardo Ezpinosa; Leonardo.ezpinosa@portervillecollege.edu
Geography:
Clery Act geography states that colleges must gather and publish crime statistics that occur in three areas:
On-Campus:
Clery defines on campus as any buildings or properties that are owned or controlled by the college, are reasonably contiguous to one another, and directly support or relate to the college’s educational purpose. Some areas include; buildings with classrooms, residence halls, and food or retail vendors operating within the college. Other areas include;
- Branch Campuses
- A division of the college
- Research Campuses
- Athletic Complexes
- Foreign locations
Non-Campus:
Buildings or properties not within the same reasonable contiguous geographical area of the main campus, are owned or controlled by the college in support of its educational goals and students frequently use, under the Clery Act geography these areas are considered non-campus.
For example, if your college rents a location for classes, but later uses the same rented location only as offices for your payroll personnel, and its no longer frequently used by students, it would cease to be a non-campus location, but If there is an apartment building across town far away from campus that is owned by a third party but has a written agreement with the college to provide student housing, it is considered a non-campus location.
Public Property
Public property consists of areas owned by a public entity for general use (US government or its agencies, State, County, City) within the campus or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus. Examples include parks, streets, sidewalks, libraries, schools, and playgrounds.
For spaces within your campus, you must track Clery crimes that occur on the space that touches your campus. If that space is privately owned it is not public property.
Examples of Non-Compliance
In February of 2018 Education Department fined Michigan State University $4.5 million for failing to report and miss handling reports sexual violence against former employee Larry Nassar.
The Office for Civil Rights and the Office of Federal Student Aid charged MSU with four findings:
- Failure to Properly Classify Reported Incidents and Disclose Crime Statistics
- Failure to Issue Timely Warnings in Accordance with Federal Regulations
- Failure to Identify and Notify Campus Security Authorities and to Establish an Adequate System for Collecting Crimes Statistics from all Required Sources
- Lack of Administrative Capability
As a result of these violations MSU had to:
- Employ an independent Clery Compliance Officer
- Establish a new Clery Compliance Committee that includes representation from more than 20 offices that play a role in campus safety, crime prevention, fire safety, emergency management, substance abuse and prevention
- Create a system of protective measures and expanded reporting to better ensure the safety of its student-athletes in both intercollegiate and recreational athletic programs. Similar steps will be taken to better ensure the safety of minor children who participate in camps or other youth programs that are sponsored by the University or that are held on its properties.
In addition to the fines, the University was sued accusing officials for disregarding sexual assault claims where Michigan State agreed to pay the $500 million settlement to more than 300 victims that the University failed to protect from Nassar.
None of these crimes were ever recorded through any of MSU's normal incident reporting processes, and, as a result , were never included in any of the University's crime statistic disclosures
The crimes committed by Nassar date back to at least 1997 and involve victims, many of whom were minors at the time of abuse, who reported the incidents to trusted adults (MSU coaches, trainers, and other officials) who clearly met all the criteria of CSA's.
Similarly Penn State was fined $2.4 Million for failing to report the crimes of sexual abuse of Jerry Sandusky who abused, molested, and raped 8 boys aged 8-17 in PSU shower rooms from 1996-2009
University high ranking officials were made aware by assistant coaches and the athletic director after having witnessed Sandusky having sex with one of the victims in the showers. None of them did anything to stop him or even reported it to police or to any child protective agency.