What is the Clery Act?

The Clery Act is a federal law designed to ensure that people are properly informed about campus crimes. Originally named the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, the policy was renamed the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) in 1998. Here is a guide to print and keep as a resource: Clery Act/Campus Security Authority (CSA) Resource Guide

What are the requirements of the Clery Act?

Under the Clery Act, any postsecondary institution that participates in federal Title IV student financial assistance programs is required by law to:

• Issue an annual security report that discloses campus crime statistics to current and prospective students, employees and the U.S. Department of Education. Please visit Chattahoochee Tech’s Public Safety/Campus Police page to obtain this report data.
• Advise students and employees of Clery crimes and issue timely safety warnings and emergency notifications for crimes that pose a serious or continuous threat to the campus community.
• Make available its campus security policies.
• Maintain a public, daily log of reported crimes.

Campus Security Authority (CSA) Responsibilities and Resources

The Clery Act also identifies certain staff, faculty, and students as “Campus Security Authorities” (or CSA’s) and requires they forward reports of crimes to designated offices on campus.

The intent of including non-security personnel in the Campus Security Authorities (CSA) role is to acknowledge that some community members, and students in particular, may be hesitant about reporting crimes to campus security or the police, but may be more inclined to report incidents to other campus-affiliated individuals.

What is the role of a CSA?

CSA’s are obligated to report crimes reported to them which occurred on campus, in public areas bordering campus, and in certain non-campus buildings owned or controlled (leased) by the College. CSA’s should only report those crimes that have not been previously reported to Public Safety/Campus Police or another College CSA.

What makes you a CSA?

The law defines four categories of CSA’s:

1. Public Safety/Campus Police personnel.
2. Non-police individuals of offices responsible for campus security. These CSA’s have security presence or access control authority on college property.
3. The Officials with significant responsibility for student and campus activities category is defined broadly to ensure complete coverage and thorough reporting of crimes. To determine which individuals or organizations are CSA’s, consider job functions that involve relationships with students. Look for Officials (i.e., not support staff) whose functions involve relationships with students.
   
   1. 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 college. If someone has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, she/he is a CSA. Some examples of CSA’s in this category include, but are not limited to, deans, student affairs professionals, student activities coordinators, and faculty/staff advisors to student organizations.
4. 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 – Public Safety/Campus Police.

Who is not a CSA?

The following non-CSA positions/functions include, but are not limited to: faculty member without responsibility for student and campus activity beyond the classroom, clerical or administrative support staff, facilities maintenance staff, technology advancement staff.

CSA Crime Reporting – The Public Incident Report

When a crime is reported to a CSA, first ask the person if they would like to report it to Public Safety/Campus Police. If so, contact Campus Police at 770-529-2311. If not, the CSA must complete and submit, on a timely basis, a Public Incident Report.

If the reported crime is made in good faith, meaning that there is reasonable basis for believing that the information is not rumor or hearsay, then the crime is Clery reportable. CSA’s should attempt to obtain (and ultimately document) as specific and thorough incident information as the reporting party is willing / able to provide. CSA’s should not investigate the crime or attempt to determine whether a crime, in fact, took place. When in doubt, a Public Incident Report should be completed and submitted.