EFFECTIVE DATE: February 01, 2019
ISSUE#: 5
PRESIDENT: Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz
PURPOSE
To ensure compliance with the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, Title II
of Public Law: 101-542 (S. 580), as amended, and named the “Jeanne Clery Disclosure of
Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act” commonly referred to as the
“Clery Act.”
DEFINITIONS
2.1 Campus Security Authority (CSA), as per The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting:
2.1.1 A campus police department or a campus security department of an institution,
2.1.2 Any individual or individuals who have responsibility for campus security but
who do not constitute a campus police department or a campus security
department (e.g., an individual who is responsible for monitoring the entrance
into institutional property). Includes individuals who provide security at a
campus parking kiosk, monitor access into a campus facility, act as event
security or escort students around campus.
2.1.3 Any individual or organization specified in an institution’s statement of campus
security policy as an individual or organization to which students and
employees should report criminal offenses. If the campus community is directed
to report criminal incidents to anyone or any organization in addition to police
or security-related personnel, that individual or organization is a campus
security authority.
2.1.4 An official of an institution who has 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.
A. Examples of individuals who meet the criteria for being campus security
authorities include:
- A dean of students who oversees student housing, a student center or
student extracurricular activities.
- A director of athletics, a team coach or a faculty advisor to a student group.
- A student resident advisor or assistant or a student who monitors access to
dormitories.
- A coordinator of Greek affairs.
- A physician in a campus health center, a counselor in a campus counseling
center or a victim advocate or sexual assault response team in a campus
rape crisis center if they are identified by the University as someone to
whom crimes should be reported or if they have significant responsibility
for student and campus activities. However, if these individuals are not
identified as people to whom crimes should be reported or do not have
significant responsibility for student and campus activities, they would not
be considered CSAs.
B. Examples of individuals who would not meet the criteria for being campus
security authorities include:
- A faculty member who does not have any responsibility for student and
campus activity beyond the classroom.
- Clerical or cafeteria staff.
2.2 Clery Act: Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, Title II of Public Law:
101-542 (S. 580), as amended.
2.3 Clery Act Crimes ("Clery Crimes"): Crimes required by the Clery Act to be reported
annually to the University community, including: criminal homicide (murder and
negligent/non-negligent manslaughter); sex offenses (forcible and non-forcible);
robbery; aggravated assault; burglary; motor vehicle theft; arson; hate crimes (including
larceny-theft, simple assault, intimidation, or destruction/damage/vandalism of property
that are motivated by bias); dating violence; domestic violence; stalking; and arrests
and referrals for disciplinary action for any of the following: (a) liquor law violations,
(b) drug law violations, and (c) carrying and possessing illegal weapons. Definition of
these crimes is based on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime
Reporting Handbook. The terms “dating violence”, “domestic violence”, and “stalking”
have the meaning given such terms in section 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women
Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)).
2.4 Clery Geography: On-campus, public property and non-campus buildings or property
owned or controlled by the University.
2.4.1 On-Campus: 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; and any building or property
that is within or reasonably contiguous to paragraph (1) of this definition, that is
owned by the institution but controlled by another person, is frequently used by
students, and supports institutional purposes (such as a food or other retail
vendor).
2.4.2 Public Property: All public property, including thoroughfares, streets,
sidewalks, and parking facilities, that is within the campus or immediately
adjacent to and accessible from the campus.
2.4.3 Non-Campus Buildings or 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.
POLICY
3.1 The University of Houston-Downtown shall comply with all requirements of the Clery
Act. This policy sets forth guidelines and procedures to ensure the University’s
compliance with reporting and disclosure obligations of the Clery Act which include
making campus security and safety policy statements available to the campus
community and the public as prescribed by the law.
PROCEDURES
4.1 In accordance with the requirements of the Clery Act, the University shall:
4.1.1 Collect statistical information on Clery Act Crimes reported to the University
Police, local law enforcement, University officials and Campus Security
Authorities that occurred within the University’s Clery Geography.
4.1.2 Issue timely warnings alerting the campus community of Clery Crimes
occurring within the University’s Clery Geography that pose a serious or
continuing threat to the campus and surrounding community.
A. Timely warnings will be disseminated throughout the community as soon
as pertinent information is available and will provide information allowing
the community to take precautions to protect themselves and prevent
similar crimes from occurring.
4.1.3 Issue emergency notifications to immediately notify the campus community
upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving
an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees occurring
on the campus.
4.1.4 Maintain a daily crime log of all crimes reported to the campus police
department for all crimes occurring within the Clery Geography of the
University. The crime log must be readily available for public inspection upon
request.
4.1.5 Create and publish an annual security report to the United States Department of
Education disclosing statistics of Clery Crimes reported over the past three
years as well as University policies and procedures addressing campus safety
and security and information on the handling of emergencies, threats and
dangerous situations as required by the Clery Act.
A. The annual security report must be disclosed and made available to the
University community and the public by October 1 of each year.
4.1.6 Identify Campus Security Authorities on a regular ongoing basis and notify
these individuals of their obligations under the Clery Act to report Clery Crimes
to the University Police Department.
A. Training on the reporting requirements will be made available to all
Campus Security Authorities.
4.1.7 Conduct programs for the University community to prevent dating violence,
domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.
4.1.8 Include in the annual security report a clear statement of policy that addresses
the procedures for institutional disciplinary action in cases of alleged dating
violence, domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.
4.1.9 Prohibit retaliation against any individual for exercising their rights or
responsibilities under any provision of this Act.
EXHIBITS
There are no exhibits associated with this policy.
REVIEW PROCESS
Responsible Party (Reviewer): Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief of
Police.
Review: Every three years on or before April 1st
.
Signed original on file in Employment Services and Operations.
POLICY HISTORY
Issue #1: 11/21/91
Issue #2: 07/28/98
Issue #3: 04/20/00
Issue #4: 03/25/15
REFERENCES
The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting
