Guide for Campus Security Authorities

 

The Clery Act Reference Guide for Campus Security Authorities (CSA)

The Clery Act requires that we gather and publish crime data to ensure that students and others know about dangers on campus. The Act is a federal law that requires the institution to identify individuals and organizations that meet the definition of a campus security authority.  “Campus security authority” is a Clery- specific term that encompasses groups of individuals and organizations associated with an institution including:

  • University Police
  • Non-police security staff responsible for monitoring University property
  • People/offices designated under College policy as those to whom/which crimes should be reported.
  • Officials with significant responsibility for student and 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

Under Clery, a crime is “reported” when it is brought to the attention of a campus security authority or local law enforcement personnel by a victim, witness, other third party or even the offender.  It doesn’t matter whether or not the individuals involved in the crime, or reporting the crime, are associated with the institution.  If a campus security authority receives the crime information and believes it was provided in good faith, he or she should document it as a crime report.

CSA’s have an important role in complying with the Clery Act.  Their crime reports are used by the college to fulfill its responsibility to annually disclose Clery crime statistics, and to issue timely warnings for Clery crimes that pose a serious or continuing threat to the campus community.

 

Responsibilities of the CSA:

If someone tells a CSA about a listed Clery crime or an incident that may be a crime, the CSA must record the information and assist in submitting a report in a timely manner. The crime can be reported by the victim or by the CSA. 

If there is a serious or continuing threat, the CSA will call UPD immediately.

The Victim may choose not to file a report with Police.  In this case, the CSA must report the incident. 

If a CSA is unsure whether an incident is a Clery crime, or even if it’s criminal in nature, they should report it. 

Crime reports should contain as much information about a criminal incident as possible including personally identifying information, if available.  This is important for law enforcement purposes and to avoid double counting crimes.  Reports should also include date, time, location and nature of the crime reported to the CSA.

Reports can be submitted electronically under the Forms section on the UPD website:  www.newpaltz.edu/police

 

Clery Act:  Locations, Crimes, and Definitions:

The Clery Act encompasses certain crimes and incidents that occur on four specific “Clery” defined locations.  These locations are as follow:

1. On-Campus Property:  Any building or property owned or controlled by an institution within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area and used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner related to, the institution’s educational purposes, including residence halls.  This also includes all campus interior roads, sidewalks, woods, fields, and campus parking lots.

2.  On-Campus Residential Facilities:
Minnewaska Hall            Bliss Hall               Bouton Hall
Capen Hall                    Ashokan Hall           Mohonk Hall
Awosting Hall                 Esopus Hall           Gage Hall
Shawangunk Hall           Lenape Hall           Ridgeview Hall
Scudder Hall                 Shango/College Hall

3. Non Campus Property:  Any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by the institution; or Any building or property owned or controlled by an institution that is used in direct support of, or in relation to, the institution’s educational purposes, is frequently used by students, and is not within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution.
3A. SUNY New Paltz has NO off campus properties owned or controlled by student organizations. (This includes any Greek and athletic houses which are owned by local landlords or former students instead.)

3B. SUNY New Paltz has NO off campus properties leased or owned by the College used in relation to the College’s educational purposes;

3C. However, any buildings or properties rented or leased by the College for sponsored trips and/or study abroad during extended or repeated stays, including extended stays in local hotels for residence halls overflows do count as Non Campus Property. Any Clery crimes occurring at these locations, even though they are off-campus, do count towards the College’s Clery crime statistics.

**Note:  Non Campus Property should not be confused with Off-Campus property.  Any crimes that occur off campus are not counted for Clery purposes.  (However, there are some crimes, including sexual assault, that are forwarded to the Title IX Coordinator even if they occurred off campus)

 

4. Public Property:  Any property owned by a public entity, such as a city or state government that is within the campus, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus.  This includes thoroughfares, streets, sidewalks and parking facilities.  The following public property can be counted for Clery purposes for SUNY New Paltz:
          State Route 32S along campus property
State Route 208 along campus property
Plattekill Ave along campus property
Tricor Ave in front of VLC
Habrouck Ave adjacent to VLC
Mohonk Ave adjacent to VLC
Southside Ave, East of Rt 208
Fairview Ave

 

Clery Act Crimes:

The Clery Act classifies the following specific crimes that CSA’s are required to report:

(The definitions for murder, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, weapon law violations, drug abuse violations and liquor law violations are excerpted from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook (UCR).  Hate crimes are classified according the the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Hate Crime Data Collection Guidelines and Training Guide for Hate Crime Data Collection.  The definitions of sex offenses (unless otherwise stated), dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking are excerpted from the Violence Against Women Act.)

  • Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter:  The willful killing of one human being by another.

 

  • Negligent Manslaughter: The killing of another person through gross negligence.  (Gross negligence is the intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences as affecting the life or property of another.)
  • Sex Offenses:  Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent.
    • Rape:  The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
    • Fondling:  The touching tof the private body parts of another person for the purpose fo sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of hi/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
    • Incest:  Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
    • Statutory Rape:  Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.

 

  • Robbery: The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
  • Aggravated Assault:  An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.  This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm.  (It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could  and probably would result in serious personal injury if the crime were successfully completed.)

 

  • Burglary:  The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft.  (For reporting purposes, this definition includes:  unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.)
  • Motor Vehicle Theft:  The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access even though the vehicles are later abandoned, including joyriding.)

 

  • Arson:  Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.
  • Dating Violence:  Violence committed by a person who has been in a romantic or intimate relationship with the victim.  Whether there has been such relationship will be gauged by its length, type and frequency of interaction.

 

  • Domestic Violence:  Felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the State of New York, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the State of New York.
  • Stalking:  A course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for her, his or other’s safety, or to suffer substantial emotional stress.

 

  • Hate Crimes:  A hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias.  Bias is a preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their race, gender, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or national origin.  Although there are many possible categories of bias, under Clery, only the following seven categories are reported:
    • Race:  A preformed negative attitude toward a group of persons who possess common physical characteristics (color of skin, eyes, and/or hair, facial features, etc.) genetically transmitted by descent and heredity, which distinguish them as a distince division of humankind (e.g., Asians, blacks, whites)
    • Gender:  A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons because those persons are male or female.
    • Gender Identity:  A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender-related characteristics.
    • Religion:  A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons who share the same religious beliefs regarding the origin and purpose of the universe and the existence or nonexistence of a supreme being (e.g., Catholics, Jews, Protestants, atheists)
    • Sexual Orientation:  A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their sexual attraction toward, and responsiveness to, members of their own sex or members of the opposite sex (e.g., gays, lesbians, heterosexuals).
    •  National origin/Ethnicity:  a preformed negative opinon or attitude toward a garoup of persons of the same race or national orign who whare common or similar traits, languages, customs and traditions (e.g., Arabs, Hispanics).
    • Disability: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their physical or mental  impairments/challenges, whether such disability is temporary or permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age or illness.

 

For Clery purposes, hate crimes include any previously listed as well as the following offenses if they include an element of bias/hate.

  • Larceny/Theft:  The unlawful taking, carrying, leading or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.  Constructive possession is the condition in which a person does not have physical custody or possession, but is in a position to exercise dominion or control over a thing.
  • Simple Assault:  An unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury.
  • Intimidation: To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the useof threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack. 
  • Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property:  To willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.

 

In addition to disclosing statistics for the aforementioned offenses, the Clery Act requires institutions to disclose violations of the law resulting in arrests or persons being referred for disciplinary action in the following categories:
Weapons:  The violation of NYS laws or local ordinances dealing with weapon offenses, regulatory in nature, such as manufacture, sale or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minors; aliens possessing deadly weapons/ and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
“Deadly weapon” refers to any loaded weapon from which a shot, readily capable of producing death or other serious physical injury, may be discharged, or a switchblade knife, gravity knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle knife, dagger, billy, blackjack, plastic/metal knuckles, as defined by the Penal Law of the State of New York.

Drugs:  The violation of NYS laws or local ordinances prohibiting the production, distribution and/or use of certain controlled substances and the equipment or devices utilized in their preparation and/or use.  The unlawful cultivation, manufacture, distribution, sale, purchase, use possession, transportation or importation of any controlled drug or narcotic substance. 

Alcohol:  The violation of NYS laws or local ordinances prohibiting the manufacturing, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, or use of alcoholic beverages, not including driving under the influence and drunkenness.