Clery Act

The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to:

• Publish an annual report every year by October 1 that contains three years of campus crime statistics and certain campus security policy statements;
• Disclose crime statistics for the campus, public areas immediately adjacent to or running through the campus, and certain non-campus facilities. The statistics must be gathered from campus police or security, local law enforcement, and other University officials who have “significant responsibility for student and campus activities”;
• Provide “timely warning” notices of those crimes that have occurred and pose an ongoing “threat to students and employees”; and
• Disclose in a public crime log “any crime that occurred on campus . . . or within the patrol jurisdiction of the campus police or the campus security department and is reported to the campus police or security department.”

University Crime Statistics Report

What is the Clery Act?

“In 1986 after the rape and murder of Jeanne Clery at Lehigh University, college campus safety was questioned and reviewed. Her death was a culmination of insufficient dorm security after three locked Dorm doors were left propped open for other resident’s convenience and an increasingly violent off-campus student looking for an opportunity. After her death, Jeanne’s parents began a long battle to require Colleges and Universities to publish their crime statistics so that other parents could be more informed before choosing a school with their child. In 1990 they won their battle and the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act was signed into effect by President George H.W. Bush. By 1998 the Act was officially renamed in honor of their daughter to the Jeanne Clery Act.

The Clery Act requires Col­leges and Universities to disclose in a public crime log ‘any crime that occurred on campus . . . or within the patrol jurisdiction of the campus police or the campus security department and is reported to the campus police or security department.’ The purpose of this report is to equip you with the information you need to stay safe while at the University. Since it’s inception the Clery Act has significantly increased the obligations of American institutions of higher learning to provide expanded reporting requirements.”