What is the Clery Act?

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act is a federal statute codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f), with implementing regulations in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at 34 C.F. R. 668.46.

The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses. Compliance is monitored by the United States Department of Education, which can impose civil penalties, up to $35,000 per violation, against institutions for each infraction and can suspend institutions from participating in federal student financial aid programs.  

The law is named for Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman who was raped and murdered in her campus residence hall in 1986. The backlash against unreported crimes on numerous campuses across the country led to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. The Clery Act, signed in 1990, was originally known as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act.

Annual Security Report

By October 1 of each year, institutions must publish and distribute their Annual Campus Security Report to current and prospective students and employees. Institutions are also allowed to provide notice of the report, a URL if available, and how to obtain a paper copy if desired.

This report is required to provide crime statistics for the prior three years, policy statements regarding various safety and security measures, campus crime prevention program descriptions, and procedures to be followed in the investigation and prosecution of alleged sex offenses.

The LUPD Annual Security Report is available here for download.

Crime Log

The institution's police department or security departments are required to maintain a public log of all crimes reported to them, or those of which they are made aware. The log is required to have the most recent 60 days' worth of information. Each entry in the log must contain the nature, date, time and general location of each crime and disposition of the complaint, if known. Information in the log older than 60 days must be made available within two business days. Crime logs must be kept for seven years, three years following the publication of the last annual security report.

Timely Warnings

The Clery Act requires institutions to give timely warnings of crimes that represent a threat to the safety of students or employees. Institutions are required to publish their policies regarding timely warnings in their Annual Campus Security Report. The institution is only required to notify the community of crimes which are covered by the Clery statistics.

The Lamar University Police Department will issue Emergency Warnings immediately through the ConnectEd system.  Crime Alerts will be posted on our department Facebook page.  A link to this page is located on the left side of the navigation window.

Crime Statistics

An institution must keep the most recent three years of crime statistics that occurred: on campus, in institution residential facilities, in non-campus buildings, or on public property. The report must also indicate if any of the reported incidents, or any other crime involving bodily injury, was a "hate crime." The following offenses, as defined by the UCR are required to be included in the institution's ASR as well as sent to the U.S. Department of Education annually:

• Criminal homicide:
  • Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
  • Negligent manslaughter
• Sexual offenses:
  • Forcible
  • Non-forcible
• Robbery
• Aggravated assault
• Burglary
• Arson
• Motor vehicle theft
• Arrest and/or disciplinary referrals for
  • Liquor-law violations
  • Drug-law violations
  • Illegal weapons possession

Institutions are required to indicate if any of the crimes, or any other crime involving bodily injury, was a "hate crime".

Source: Wikipedia