Jeanne Clery, a 19 year-old college student from Lehigh University, was brutally raped and murdered in her dorm room by fellow student, Josoph Henry. During the time of her murder, crime reporting and crime statistics were nonexistent. Her parents, Connie and Hoard Clery, decided to lobby for some changes in crime reporting. They went to Capitol Hill, and in 2013, the Jeanne Clery Act was born.
The Clery Act is considered a consumer protection law that provides transparency when it comes to crime safety and policies on college campuses.
Federal Register Full Text
Vol. 79 No. 202
October 14, 2014
What is the Clery Act?
The Clery Act requires colleges and universities that receive federal funding to publish a public annual security report to employees and students every October. This report must include statistics of campus crime for the preceding three calendar years and the efforts taken to keep campus safe.
Clery Report Requirements
Must contain policy statements about crime reporting, campus facility security and access, law enforcement authority, incidence of alcohol and drug use, and the prevention of/response to sexual assault, domestic or dating violence, and stalking.
Include four distinct categories in report
Criminal offenses such as homicide, sexual assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson
Hate Crimes such as larceny-theft, simple assault, intimidation, and destruction/damage/vandalism of property
Violence Against Women Act crimes such as domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking
Arrests and referrals for disciplinary action for weapons law violations, drug abuse violations, and liquor law violations
Clery Act does not only report on-campus crime. They must include crime on public property immediately adjacent to the campus, off campus buildings and property owned or controlled by the organization used for educational purposes or students that is not part of the main campus.
