09:10:00 Maintenance of the Daily Campus Crime Log

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 maintenance of the daily campus crime log. 

Policy

A daily log of all reported criminal incidents and alleged criminal incidents is maintained in accordance with Clery Act guidelines. This includes crimes that are reported directly to the Campus Police department, as well as crimes that are initially reported to a campus security authority or to a local law enforcement agency who subsequently reports them to the Campus Police. The log is more specific as to the location of the crime, “second floor, room 203, Jack E. Campbell College Center Building” rather than merely (“on-campus”). If multiple criminal offenses are committed during a single incident, all of the offenses must be recorded on the crime log.

The crime log must consist of the following elements:

1. The date the crime was reported
2. The date and time the crime occurred
3. The nature of the crime
4. The general location of the crime
5. The disposition of the complaint, if known

Maintaining the Daily Crime Log

An entry, an addition to an entry, or a change in the disposition of a complaint must be recorded within two business days of the reporting of the information to Campus Police. For example, if the disposition of a crime is “pending” and an arrest is made later, the police department has two business days to update the original entry to reflect “Arrest”. More than one person at each campus site will be trained to maintain and update the crime log.

The only exceptions to this are:

1. The disclosure is not required if it is prohibited by law.
2. The disclosure is not required if it would jeopardize the confidentiality of the victim
3. If the disposition of a crime log data entry changes after 60 days, it is not required that the disposition be updated 
4. Information may temporarily be withheld from the entry only if there is clear and convincing evidence that the release of information would:

1. Jeopardize an ongoing investigation
2. Jeopardize the safety of an individual
3. Cause a suspect to flee or evade detection; or
4. Result in the destruction of evidence

   5. Should there be a need to withhold data entry until the information is no longer likely to prove harmful; the individual making the judgment to withhold information should document the reason for doing so.

   6. If Campus Police investigate a reported crime, and it is determined that a crime did not occur, the log should indicate that the disposition of the crime is “unfounded”. A Campus Security Authority who is not a sworn or commissioned law enforcement officer cannot make this determination.

Availability of the Crime Log

The crime log for the most recent 60-day period must be open to public inspection, upon request, during normal business hours. A written request cannot be required. Anyone may have access to the log, whether associated with our institution or not. This includes the media. The institution must make any portion of the log that is older than 60 days available within two business days of a request for public inspection. The daily crime log is made available upon request in the Campus Police office at each campus location; and, is included in the Annual Safety Report.

10/19; 09/24