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since 1914


                                                                                           Updated March  12, 2024

The Clery Act and Postsecondary Institutions: Requirements

and Enforcement


The federal government requires colleges and universities
to implement several institutional policies aimed at
ensuring the safety and security of their students. One key
federal statute that applies to postsecondary institutions is
the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and
Campus  Crime  Statistics Act (Clery Act), codified in
Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The
Clery Act applies to all domestic institutions of higher
education (IHEs) that participate in HEA Title IV federal
student aid programs. The law requires covered IHEs to
publish a report, by October 1 of each year, disclosing
campus  crime statistics and campus security policies. The
Department of Education (ED) has promulgated regulations
implementing the law.

Campus Crime Statistics
The Clery Act requires covered IHEs to publish an annual
security report (ASR) containing campus crime statistics for
the preceding three years. Covered IHEs must share the
ASRs  with current students and employees, as well as with
any applicants for enrollment or employment upon request.

Incidents that a covered IHE must disclose in its ASR
include various crimes that are reported to, or brought to the
attentions of, campus security authorities or local police
agencies, including murder, sex offenses, robbery,
aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft,
manslaughter, and arson. This includes reports of all alleged
criminal incidents, rather than only crimes for which a
finding of guilt has been made.

In addition, ASRs must include alleged criminal offenses
reported to campus security or local police if the victim of
any of the aforementioned crimes or a broader group of
crimes (such as larceny-theft, simple assault, intimidation,
destruction of property, or crimes involving bodily injury to
a person) was selected based on race, gender, religion,
national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity,
ethnicity, or disability. The ASR must also include arrests
(and referrals for campus disciplinary action) for liquor law
violations and drug-related violations, as well as weapons
possession. Finally, ASRs must include alleged incidents of
domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking reported to
campus  security authorities or local police. The statistics
that must be published under the Clery Act must not
identify persons accused of crimes or the victims of crimes.

Covered IHEs  may withhold, or later remove, reported
crimes from their statistics in the rare situation where a
sworn or commissioned  law enforcement officer has
investigated and formally determined that a crime report
was false. IHEs must disclose in their ASR the total number


of crime reports that were unfounded during each of the
previous three years.

ASRs  must include incidents if they occur within Clery
geography, which means on campus, on public property
within or immediately adjacent to the school, or on certain
noncampus  buildings or property, including property
owned  or controlled by an officially recognized student
organization, such as officially recognized sorority or
fraternity-owned chapter houses.

In compiling the incidents for its crime report, an IHE must
make  a reasonable effort to collect statistics and is
permitted to rely on information supplied by a local or state
police agency. If an IHE makes a good-faith effort to do so,
it is not to be held responsible for the failure of a local
police agency to supply the necessary statistics.

If an IHE maintains a police or security department, then
that department must keep a daily security log that records
all crimes reported within its patrol jurisdiction, as well as
within the IHE's Clery geography. That log must be open
to public inspection and include the date, time, location, and
nature of each crime.

IHEs must also issue timely alerts to the campus
community  of crimes covered by the Clery Act that are
reported to campus security or local police and that
constitute a threat to students and employees. The alerts
must withhold the names of victims as confidential.

Campus Security Polkies
An  IHE's ASR  must describe a number of school policies,
including procedures available for students and others to
report crimes (and how to do so on a voluntary and
confidential basis) and the IHE's policies concerning its
response to these reports. The ASR must also include the
titles of persons or organizations to whom students and
employees  should report criminal offenses; policies
regarding security and access to campus facilities and
residences and security considerations used in facilities
maintenance; policies regarding law enforcement authority
on campus  and agreements with state and local law
enforcement agencies; a description of programs geared
toward informing employees and students of security
procedures and the prevention of crimes; policies regarding
the enforcement of underage drinking laws and the
possession, use, or sale of illegal drugs; and a statement on
where to find information about registered sex offenders.

ASRs  must also include a statement of policies on
immediate emergency  response and evacuation procedures.
IHEs that provide on-campus housing for students must


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