Campus crime drops, officials cite new plans
Noah Cohen
Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: News
The public property robbery rate declined from 25 to 20 robberies in 2006.
Clery crime statistics contained in the Drexel report must be sent to the United States Department of Education by Oct. 1, according to Alison Kiss, program director for Security on Campus Inc.
Kiss said the Clery act uses the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting guidelines for reporting crimes.
FBI guidelines mandate that the Right to Know report must measure all Clery Act crimes reported to campus officials. Crimes need not result in arrest or conviction, according to Kiss.
However, Kiss said crime statistics are only one part what students should take from the University's report, and that students should read beyond the statistics.
On the other side of the spectrum, Julia Hall, director of Drexel's criminal justice program, said crime statistics should be closely scrutinized.
"With any crime report there are always issues of reliability and validity," Hall said.
The Clery report, like the FBI's UCR only measure crime reported to officials and criminologists believe that only 50 percent of crimes are shown in crime data according to Hall.
Information about victim services and the "timely notice" requirement are also detailed in the Clery report.
Kiss said the timely notice requires schools to alert students of "current or ongoing threats to student safety."
The definition of a "current or ongoing threat" is up to the school, but Kiss urged schools to use "good faith" in determining threats.
"We encourage schools to issue warnings even if it doesn't fall in the Clery Act," she said.
The Clery Act requires reporting of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, forcible and non-forcible sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson.
Some crimes are not covered under the nine Clery categories but still must be reported to the Pennsylvania State Police, S. Daniel Carter, senior vice president of Security on Campus, said.
Clery crime statistics contained in the Drexel report must be sent to the United States Department of Education by Oct. 1, according to Alison Kiss, program director for Security on Campus Inc.
Kiss said the Clery act uses the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting guidelines for reporting crimes.
FBI guidelines mandate that the Right to Know report must measure all Clery Act crimes reported to campus officials. Crimes need not result in arrest or conviction, according to Kiss.
However, Kiss said crime statistics are only one part what students should take from the University's report, and that students should read beyond the statistics.
On the other side of the spectrum, Julia Hall, director of Drexel's criminal justice program, said crime statistics should be closely scrutinized.
"With any crime report there are always issues of reliability and validity," Hall said.
The Clery report, like the FBI's UCR only measure crime reported to officials and criminologists believe that only 50 percent of crimes are shown in crime data according to Hall.
Information about victim services and the "timely notice" requirement are also detailed in the Clery report.
Kiss said the timely notice requires schools to alert students of "current or ongoing threats to student safety."
The definition of a "current or ongoing threat" is up to the school, but Kiss urged schools to use "good faith" in determining threats.
"We encourage schools to issue warnings even if it doesn't fall in the Clery Act," she said.
The Clery Act requires reporting of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, forcible and non-forcible sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson.
Some crimes are not covered under the nine Clery categories but still must be reported to the Pennsylvania State Police, S. Daniel Carter, senior vice president of Security on Campus, said.
Be the first to comment on this story