09:08:00 Collection and Reporting of Crime Data

PURPOSE

It is the intent of Walters State Community College as a Tennessee Board of Regents institution to fully comply with section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 otherwise known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 and §304 of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, the regulations implementing these Acts found at 34 CFR §668.41, §668.46 and with the U. S. Department of Education guidelines as outlined in The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting with regards to collection and reporting of crime data. 

POLICY

The Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, which amended the Higher Education Act of 1965, and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, govern specific crime statistics that must be collected. The United States Department of Education requires crimes occurring on or off campus that were reported to campus or local law enforcement personnel or a designated Campus Security Authority (CSA) be disclosed. Statistics for all Clery Act crimes must be disclosed by the type of crime that was committed, the year in which the crime was reported, and the geographic location where the crime occurred.

CRIME STATISTICS REPORTING AND PROCEDURES

Under the Clery Act, a crime is “reported” when it is brought to the attention of a campus security authority, and/or campus or local law enforcement personnel by a victim, a witness, another third party or even the offender. It does not matter whether or not the individuals involved in the crime, or reporting the crime, are associated with the Institution. In keeping with the United States Department of Education Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting and the FBI’s UCR Hierarchy Rule, when more than one offense was committed during a single incident, only the most serious offense will be counted. There will be no differentiation between attempted and completed crimes. When more than one offense was committed during a single incident which involved hate or bias motivation, all offenses will be counted. All reportable crimes will be counted even if they involve individuals not associated with the institution. If an individual is both arrested and referred for disciplinary action for an offense, only the arrest will be disclosed.  Victims and suspects will not be identified for statistical reporting purposes.

Crime statistics are available from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation online at http://tn.gov/tbi.html

CRIMES NOT COMMITTED IN CAMPUS GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS

Where a crime occurred is important in determining if the crime must be disclosed in the annual safety report. Clery Act crimes reported but not occurring in one of the defined geographic campus locations are not reportable for statistical purposes. However, information regarding any reported crime should be collected and an incident report completed. Campus Police and supporting committees will determine the degree to which information must be investigated and included in the annual safety report. Only crimes that occur in the following geographic locations must be disclosed: 1) On-campus in or on non-campus buildings or properties, or 2) or public property adjacent to the campus.

CLERY ACT CRIME STATISTIC CATEGORIES

The Clery Act requires that our institution disclose three general categories of crime statistics:

1. Criminal Offenses
2. Hate Crime
3. Disciplinary Referral

Criminal Offenses:

1. Aggravated assault
2. Arson
3. Burglary
4. Dating Violence
5. Domestic Violence
6. Drug Abuse Violations
7. Liquor Law Violations
8. Motor Vehicle Theft
9. Murder/Non-Negligent Manslaughter
10. Robbery
11. Sex Offenses
    1. Fondling
    2. Incest
    3. Rape
    4. Statutory Rape
12. Stalking

Hate Crime:

    1. Larceny/Theft

    2. Simple Assault

    3. Intimidation

    4. Vandalism (destruction/damage to property)

Disciplinary Referral:

    1. Drug Violations

    2. Liquor Law Violations

    3. Weapons Violations

CRIMINAL OFFENSES

As defined in The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting, U. S. Department of Education:

1. Aggravated Assault is an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is 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 or probably would result in serious potential injury if the crime were successfully completed.
2. Arson is the willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, or personal property of another kind.
3. Burglary is 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 a felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
4. Dating Violence is violence against a person when the accuser and accused are dating, or who have dated, or who have or had a sexual relationship. “Dating” and “dated” do not include fraternization between two (2) individuals solely in a business or non-romantic social context. Violence includes, but is not necessarily limited to, inflicting, or attempting to inflict, physical injury on the accuser by other than accidental means, placing the accuser in fear of physical harm, physical restraint, malicious damage to the personal property of the accuser, including inflicting, or attempting to inflict, physical injury on any animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by the accuser; or, placing a victim in fear of physical harm to any animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by the accuser.
5. Domestic Violence is violence against a person when the accuser and accused: are current or former spouses; live together or have lived together; are related by blood or adoption; are related or were formally related by marriage; or, are adult or minor children of a person in a relationship described above. Domestic violence includes, but is not necessarily limited to, inflicting, or attempting to inflict, physical injury on the accuser by other than accidental means; placing the accuser in fear of physical harm; physical restraint; malicious damage to the personal property of the accuser, including inflicting, or attempting to inflict, physical injury on any animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by the accuser; or, placing the accuser in fear of physical harm to any animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by the accuser.
6. Drug Abuse Violations are violations of state and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include, but are not limited to opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine), marijuana, synthetic narcotics (Demerol, methadone), and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (barbiturates, Benzedrine).
7. Liquor Law Violations are the violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition).
8. Motor Vehicle Theft is the theft or attempted theft of 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 and including “joy riding.”).
9. Murder/Non-Negligent Manslaughter is the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. Deaths caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill, suicides, accidental deaths, and justifiable homicides are excluded.
10. Negligent Manslaughter is the killing of another person through gross negligence.
11. Robbery is 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.
12. Stalking is a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment or another individual that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually causes the accuser to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested.  

SEX OFFENSE

A Sexual Offense is any sexual act directed against another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent. Sex offenses include:

1. Fondling is the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or, not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
2. Incest is non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
3. Rape is the carnal knowledge of a person, forcibly and/or against the person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (or because of his/her youth).  Includes sodomy and sexual assault with an object.
4. Statutory Rape is non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.

HATE CRIME

Hate Crime is any crime manifesting evidence of bias motivation that the victim was selected because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity/national origin, or disability. Generally pertains to but is not limited to the following crimes that were motivated by bias.

CRIMES CATEGORIZED AS HATE CRIMES

1. Destruction/damage/vandalism of property is to willfully or maliciously destroy, injure, disfigure, or deface any public or private property, real or personal, without the consent of the owner or person having custody or control by cutting, tearing, breaking, marking, painting, covering with filth, or any other such means as may be specified by local law.
2. Intimidation is to unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.
3. Larceny is the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.
4. Simple Assault is 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 involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, sever laceration or loss of consciousness.

DISCIPLINARY REFERRALS AND CRIME CATEGORIES

Referred for disciplinary action is the referral of any person to any college official who initiates a disciplinary action of which a record is kept and which may result in the imposition of a sanction. Arrests for referrals for disciplinary action follow the referral of any person to any college official who initiates a disciplinary action of which a record is kept and which may result in the imposition of a sanction

Disclosure of the number of arrests and the number of persons referred for disciplinary action is required for the following:

1. Drug Abuse Violations are violations of state and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include, but not limited to Opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine), marijuana, synthetic narcotics (Demerol, methadone), and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (barbiturates, Benzedrine). Violations of state and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include, but not limited to opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine), marijuana, synthetic narcotics (Demerol, methadone), and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (barbiturates, Benzedrine).
2. Liquor Law Violations are violations of laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition).
3. Weapons Law Violations are violations of laws or 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; all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.

Reporting does not include violations of institutional policy that resulted in persons being referred for disciplinary action if there was no violation of law.

COLLECTION OF CRIME DATA

To achieve full disclosure, Campus Police collect crime data when offenses are reported directly to them and an official report is filed. Campus Security Authorities must complete and submit a Campus Security Authority “Clery Incident Report” form to the Campus Police Department for review and follow up. In addition, an annual communication is forwarded to each Campus Security Authority to ensure that Campus Police have received all crime data collected by them during the year. Faculty are required to complete a misconduct report regarding any student not complying with classroom rules and regulations or that has been referred for disciplinary action. The Academic Affairs Department ensures that Campus Police receives such reports for assessment for reporting purposes. 

The Clery Act also requires that every institution make a “reasonable, good faith effort” to obtain Clery crime statistics from local law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction over the campus geography. These statistics affect properties owned or controlled by Walters State Community College and used to provide educational services. This includes areas surrounding or contiguous with campuses or campus locations. These statistics are requested from local law enforcement agencies on an annual basis. 

As a law enforcement agency, the Walters State Campus Police Department is required to collect and report campus crime data on a monthly basis through the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS). These statistics are included in the Crime in Tennessee annual publication published by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). Crime statistics are reported to U. S. Department of Education on an annual basis.

10/19; 09/24