Clearing up the Clery Act: Ohio University’s compliance with the consumer protection law

Ohio University released its completed 2021 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report on Sept. 30 in accordance with the federal Clery Act. 

The report contains information regarding campus security and personal safety as well as crime statistics of the main and regional campuses. 

The Clery Act, enacted in 1990 after the rape and murder of Jeanne Clery, is a consumer protection law that aims to provide transparency around campus crime policy and statistics. Public and private universities and colleges that participate in federal student aid programs are required to release a publicly accessible annual security report (ASR) each year by Oct. 1 that contains details related to security on campus. 

According to the Clery Center, the ASR must include statistics of campus crime for the preceding three calendar years and details policies and procedures that have been put into place to improve campus safety. 

For occurrences on the Athens campus, there were five arrests for drug law violations, two arrests for liquor law violations and two arrests for carrying and possession of weapons, according to the report. There were also 66 disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations and seven referrals for drug law violations.  

Incidents that occurred on the Athens campus in 2020 included nine rapes, nine burglaries, four incidents of fondling, two incidents of stalking and one incident of motor vehicle theft. 

The Clery Act requires institutions to issue timely warnings about crimes that are listed in the ASR when they occur within the geography covered by the report and pose a serious or ongoing threat to the campus community. 

On Oct. 18 and 19, two crime alert emails were sent out to students, one detailing sexual battery and the other for rape. 

“OUPD investigates all offenses reported to us thoroughly, but for obvious reasons, we don’t discuss the details of ongoing investigations,” Andrew Powers, Ohio University Police Department Chief of Police, said in an email. “In addition to meeting our obligation to issue timely notifications under the Clery Act, the crime alert emails help generate leads, identify suspects, and most importantly, provide information our community members can use to protect themselves.”

This is not the only response to crime Ohio U has developed to comply with the Clery Act. Kerri Griffin, the director of the Office of University Equity and Civil Rights Compliance (ECRC) and Title IX Coordinator, said in past years the university has added cameras by entrances to residence halls and added lights around campus as a result of crimes detailed in the ASR.

Crimes are reported to police or Campus Security Authorities (CSA), officials employed by the university a person can report a crime to. According to Ohio U’s Campus Security Authority training, these officials are anyone who has a significant responsibility for student and campus activities and has the authority and duty to take action to respond to issues on behalf of the institution. CSA’s are required to document crimes reported in good faith by victims, witnesses or a third party. 

Ashlynn Lucas, Clery Act Compliance Coordinator and Civil Rights Investigator, said in an interview that Ohio U does not currently have a system that keeps track of who is a CSA because people’s roles at the university change frequently, and that it is mostly up to individuals to be aware that they are a CSA.

“That's definitely one of our goals, is to get better at that,” Lucas said about trying to track down who all is a CSA.

In addition to requiring an ASR, the Clery Act also states that a daily crime log must be maintained and updated within two days of a reported crime unless it would threaten an ongoing police investigation. Examples of crimes include but are not limited to rape, fondling, domestic and dating violence, robbery, aggravated assault and stalking. Ohio U’s ASR also contains statistics on arrests and disciplinary referrals, which include liquor and drug law violations and carrying or possessing a weapon. Hate-motivated crime statistics are also found in the report.

Powers stated in an email the daily crime log is available in hard copy upon request at any time at their headquarters located at 118 Ridges Circle Dr.

Griffin said data compiled in the ASR not only comes from the OUPD and the Athens Police Department (APD) on their main campus but also from the local police stations near Ohio U’s regional campuses. Additionally, data is compiled from anywhere in the world where Ohio U students study.

Crime statistics in the ASR include reported crimes that occurred in off-campus buildings owned or controlled by Ohio U and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from, the campus.

“Say we had a group of students studying in Ireland and they were in Dublin, we would actually solicit information from the Dublin Police Department,” Griffin said.

Starting in January, information from the past year is gathered and the report is filled out. According to Griffin, it takes about eight to nine months to put together the ASR.

However, the numbers found in the ASR are not always entirely representative of the crimes that happen in a given year, as the report only shows what was reported, according to Griffin.

According to the ASR, in 2020, nine accounts of rape were reported to have occurred on campus, however, Griffin stated that five of these reported rapes occurred before 2020, but were documented under 2020 because that’s when they were reported. According to Griffin, this is not a concern for Ohio U because the difference those numbers make is so granular.

“If we had this massive jump in the number of rapes reported, people would probably freak out, right? If it was something that we knew was because we have a lot of reports from previous years, it might behoove us to say, ‘Hey folks, just so you know here's where those numbers are coming from,’” Griffin said.

Additionally, Ohio U’s branch campuses have had a total of 13 reported crimes in the past three years. While the Athens campus may appear to be more dangerous, Griffin attributes the differences in crime levels to the residence halls.

“Our branch campuses don't have residence halls and that's where a lot of this stuff occurs or is related to,” Griffin said.

Lucas added that students at branch campuses “go to school and go home.”

Residence halls are where a majority of the crimes reported occurred, according to the report. Griffin said the number of crimes at Ohio U’s main campus were reduced significantly in 2020 due to reduced populations on campus caused by the pandemic.

The university is required to support victims of violence under the Clery Act.

“Sexual violence occurs all too often on college campuses across the nation. Ohio University is no exception. We have committed many resources to prevent future violence from occurring, and we continuously seek ways to increase our safety, support survivors, and ensure Ohio University leads in our effort to eradicate rape culture,” Executive Director of Communications Carly Leatherwood said in an email. 

Ohio U provides resources relevant to the crimes detailed in the ASR that Ohio U has available to students including the Survivor Advocacy Program, Counseling and Psychological Services and Ohio Health Campus Care.