8 Campus Crime Scenarios: Would These Count As Clery Crimes?

Would these campus crime scenarios be considered Clery crimes and if so, how should they be classified in an Annual Security Report (ASR)?

8 Campus Crime Scenarios: Would These Count As Clery Crimes?

The types of crimes that must be included in a campus’ Clery Act crime statistics and the rules for classifying and counting them can be extremely overwhelming, even for a seasoned vet.

Keeping students safe while in school or on campus should be a top priority, and properly reporting and being fully transparent about campus crimes is a significant part of that.

As a refresher, the Clery Act requires institutions that receive federal funding to disseminate a public annual security report (ASR) to employees and students every October 1. (This is typically the case, except for in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying challenges pushed back the deadline to December 31).

According to the Department of Education, the Clery Act requires these institutions to include four general categories of crime statistics:

    1. Criminal Offenses: Criminal Homicide, including Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter, and Manslaughter by Negligence; Sexual Assault, 2 including Rape, Fondling, Incest and Statutory Rape; Robbery; Aggravated Assault; Burglary; Motor Vehicle Theft; and Arson.
    2. Hate Crimes: Any of the above-mentioned offenses, and any incidents of Larceny-Theft, Simple Assault, Intimidation, or Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property that were motivated by bias.
    3. VAWA Offenses: Any incidents of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking. (Note that Sexual Assault is also a VAWA Offense but is included in the Criminal Offenses category for Clery Act reporting purposes).
    4. Arrests and Referrals for Disciplinary Action: for Weapon Law Violations (Carrying, Possessing, etc.), Drug Abuse Violations and Liquor Law Violations.

All of this information only scratches the surface of the complexity of Clery Act reporting requirements, which is why we’ve put together another quiz to test your Clery knowledge. This quiz contains eight crime scenarios from the 2016 Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting.

TAKE THE CLERY QUIZ NOW

We have posted similar quizzes in the past and many Campus Safety readers have reached out to say they find them extremely useful. Here are the links to those earlier quizzes:

For even more Clery-related content, click here.

If you appreciated this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!

About the Author

Contact:

Amy is Campus Safety’s Executive Editor. Prior to joining the editorial team in 2017, she worked in both events and digital marketing.

Amy has many close relatives and friends who are teachers, motivating her to learn and share as much as she can about campus security. She has a minor in education and has worked with children in several capacities, further deepening her passion for keeping students safe.

Leading in Turbulent Times: Effective Campus Public Safety Leadership for the 21st Century

This new webcast will discuss how campus public safety leaders can effectively incorporate Clery Act, Title IX, customer service, “helicopter” parents, emergency notification, town-gown relationships, brand management, Greek Life, student recruitment, faculty, and more into their roles and develop the necessary skills to successfully lead their departments. Register today to attend this free webcast!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Our Newsletters
Campus Safety Conference promo