The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) requires colleges and universities to disclose statistics annually both for crimes reported to local agencies and crimes reported to campus security authorities. The Cornell University Police Department is responsible for the annual collection of Clery Act crime statistics, and for reporting such information directly to the U.S. Department of Education and to the Cornell University community in CampusWatch, the Clery Act-mandated Annual Security Report published each year.
The Clery Act defines “Campus Security Authority” as:
- A campus police department or a campus security department of an institution. At Cornell University Ithaca campus, this is Cornell University Police.
- Any individual(s) who have responsibility for campus security but who do not constitute a campus police department or security department.
- Any individual or organization specified in Cornell’s campus security policy as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offenses.
- An official of the institution who has significant responsibility for student or 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.
- For more information, you can link here.
Duties and Responsibilities of a Campus Security Authority
- CSAs must immediately report all allegations of Clery crimes that occurred on Clery geography made to them in good faith by contacting the Cornell Police at 607-255-1111 or through the appropriate online reporting form: https://cornell.guardianconduct.com/incident-reporting
- Reports are statistical only and do NOT include the name of the victim.
- CSA reports are used to compile statistics for Clery Act reporting and to help determine if there is a serious or continuing threat to the safety of the campus community that would require a timely warning.
When is a crime considered to be reported?
- When it is brought to the attention of a CSA by the victim, a witness, a third party or the offender
- It does not matter if the people involved in the crime are affiliated or not with Cornell as long as the incident occurs on Cornell’s Clery geography
- It does not matter when the crime occurred, once it is reported to a CSA, the CSA must report it to the university
What NOT to do if you are a CSA
- CSAs are not investigators
- CSAs are NOT responsible for determining whether a crime took place – that is the function of law enforcement personnel
- CSAs should NOT try to apprehend the alleged perpetrator of a crime – that is the function of law enforcement personnel
- CSAs should NOT try to convince a victim to contact law enforcement if the victim chooses not to
- CSAs should never try to force anyone to disclose more information than he or she is willing to offer