Clery Act
The federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, codified at (20 USC § 1092(f)), as a part of the Higher Education Act of 1965, is a federal law that requires colleges and universities to disclose certain timely and annual information about campus crime and security policies. All public and private post-secondary educational institutions participating in federal student aid programs are subject to it.
The Clery Act Requires Colleges and Universities to:
Publish an Annual Security Report (ASR) by October 1, documenting three calendar years of select campus crime statistics
including security policies and procedures and information on the basic rights guaranteed
victims of sexual assault. The law requires schools make the report available to all
current students and employees, and prospective students and employees must be notified
of its existence and given a copy upon request. Schools may comply with this requirement
via the Internet if required recipients are notified and provided exact information
regarding the on-line location of the report. Paper copies of the ASR should be available
upon request. All crime statistics must be provided to the U.S. Department of Education.
A paper copy of the annual security and fire safety report is available upon request
by contacting Captain Joanne Morrow at 901.448.6452, or cleryact@uthsc.edu.
View the 2024 Annual Security Report.
Have a public crime log. Institutions with a police or security department are required to maintain a public crime log documenting the "nature, date, time, and general location of each crime" and its disposition, if known. Incidents must be entered into the log within two business days. The log should be accessible to the public during normal business hours; remain open for 60 days and, subsequently, made available within two business days upon request.
The crime log for UTHSC is located in the Campus Police Department at 3 N. Dunlap Street. It is retained at the front desk in the lobby.
Disclose crime statistics for incidents that occur on campus, in unobstructed public areas immediately adjacent to or running through the campus and at certain non-campus facilities including Greek housing and remote classrooms. The statistics must be gathered from campus police or security, local law enforcement and other school officials who have "significant responsibility for student and campus activities.”
Issue timely warnings about Clery Act crimes which pose a serious or ongoing threat to students and employees. Institutions must provide timely warnings in a manner likely to reach all members of the campus community. This mandate has been part of the Clery Act since its inception in 1990. Timely warnings are limited to those crimes an institution is required to report and include in its ASR. There are differences between what constitutes a timely warning and an emergency notification; however, both systems are in place to safeguard students and campus employees.
Devise an emergency response, notification and testing policy. Institutions are required to inform the campus community about a “significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees occurring on the campus." An emergency response expands the definition of timely warning as it includes both Clery Act crimes and other types of emergencies (i.e., a fire or infectious disease outbreak). Colleges and universities with and without on-campus residential facilities must have emergency response and evacuation procedures in place. Institutions are mandated to disclose a summary of these procedures in their ASR. Additionally, compliance requires one test of the emergency response procedures annually and policies for publicizing those procedures in conjunction with the annual test.
Enact policies and procedures to handle reports of missing students. This requirement is intended to minimize delays and confusion during the initial stages of a missing student investigation. Institutions must designate one or more positions or organizations to which reports of a student living in on-campus housing can be filed if it’s believed that student has been missing for 24 hours.
As part of the Clery Act, qualifying incidents reported to university police from various sources, including Campus Security Authorities (CSA), are required to be annually published and made available to the campus community.
One purpose of the Clery Act is to encourage the reporting and collection of accurate campus crime statistics to promote crime awareness and enhance campus safety.
The law defines Campus Security Authority (CSA) as: “An official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student, student discipline, and campus judicial proceedings.” “Campus security authority” is a Clery-specific term that encompasses four groups of individuals and organizations associated with an institution.
Watch a brief video about what a Campus Security Authority is.
- A campus police department or a campus security department of an institution. If your institution has a campus police or security department, those individuals are campus security authorities. A security department can be as small as one person.
- Any individual or individuals who have responsibility for campus security but who do not constitute a campus police department or a campus security department (e.g., an individual who is responsible for monitoring the entrance into institutional property). Include individuals who provide security at a campus parking kiosk, monitor access into a campus facility, act as event security or escort students around campus after dark.
- Any individual or organization specified in an institution’s statement of campus security policy as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offenses. As mentioned in Chapter 1, your institution must publish a number of safety- and security-related policy statements. (These are discussed in Chapters 7 and 8.) If you direct the campus community to report criminal incidents to anyone or any organization in addition to police or security-related personnel, that individual or organization is a campus security authority.
- 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. An official is defined as any person who has the authority and the duty to take action or respond to particular issues on behalf of the institution.
- A dean of students who oversees student housing, a student center or student extracurricular activities.
- A director of athletics, a team coach or a faculty advisor to a student group.
- A student resident advisor or assistant or a student who monitors access to dormitories.
- A coordinator of Greek affairs.
- A physician in a campus health center, a counselor in a campus counseling center or a victim advocate or sexual assault response team in a campus rape crisis center if they are identified by your school as someone to whom crimes should be reported or if they have significant responsibility for student and campus activities. However, if these individuals are not identified as people to whom crimes should be reported or do not have significant responsibility for student and campus activities, they would not be considered CSAs.
Current list of identified CSAs
Examples of individuals who would not meet the criteria for being campus security authorities include:
- A faculty member who does not have any responsibility for student and campus activity beyond the classroom.
- Clerical or cafeteria staff.
The criminal offenses for which you are required to disclose statistics are as follows:
PRIMARY CRIME STATISTICS:
Criminal Homicide (murder and non-negligent manslaughter; and Manslaughter by Negligence), Sex offenses (Rape, Fondling, Incest and Statutory Rape), Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Arson
ARRESTS AND CAMPUS DISCIPLINARY REFERRALS:
Arrests for liquor law violations, drug law violations and illegal weapons possessions; Report arrests only
Number of persons referred for campus disciplinary action for liquor and drug law violations and illegal weapons possession; Report referrals for violations of law only
Referral must initiate a disciplinary hearing for which a record is kept
HATE CRIME STATISTICS
Report those offenses that “…manifest evidence that the victim was intentionally selected because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, or disability…” as stated in the ED handbook and are:
- Otherwise primary crime statistics under the Clery Act
- Larceny-theft
- Simple assault
- Intimidation
- Destruction/damage/vandalism of property
- Any other crime involving bodily injury
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (VAWA) – “2013 CLERY ADDITIONS”
- Dating Violence
- Domestic Violence
- Sexual Assault (listed with primary crimes)
- Stalking
These incidents should be reported on the Campus Security Authority Incident Form.
To qualify as reportable, a Clery Act crime must have occurred in one of the following locations:
- On-campus property: Any building or property owned or controlled by the university within the same reasonable contiguous geographic area and used by the university in direct support of, or in a manner related to, the university’s educational purpose, including buildings or property the location described herein that is owned by the university but controlled by another person and which is frequently used by students. On-campus residential life buildings and Greek houses
- Non-campus property: Any non-campus property or building owned or controlled (leased) by the university that is frequently used by students and is not within the same reasonable contiguous geographic area of the institution.
- Public property: Any public property located immediately adjacent to, and accessible from campus,
including public garages, thoroughfares, sidewalks, streets, lands, parks, and beaches.
A CSA is not responsible for determining authoritatively whether a crime took place—that is the function of law enforcement personnel. A CSA should not try to apprehend the alleged perpetrator of the crime. That too is the responsibility of law enforcement. It is also not a CSA’s responsibility to try and convince a victim to contact law enforcement if the victim chooses not to do so.
You cannot keep an incident report confidential, even if the person who reported the incident to you requested that you keep the report confidential.