The Clery Act requires higher education institutions to disclose reported crimes. A crime is reported when it is brought to the attention of a campus security authority or the local police by a victim, witness, other third party, or even the offender. An institution must disclose crime reports regardless of whether any of the individuals involved in either the crime itself, or in the reporting of the crime, are associated with the institution. The following crime definitions are taken from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook (UCR) as required by Clery Act regulations. (*Updated 01/17/2013 – Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program; National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) User Manual)
Criminal Homicide:
- Murder and Nonnegligent Manslaughter: The willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.
- Negligent Manslaughter: The killing of another person through negligence.
Sex Offenses:
- Rape: Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
- Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
- Incest: Nonforcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
- Statutory Rape: Nonforcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.
Robbery: The taking or attempting to take anything of value under confrontational circumstances from the control, custody, or care of another person by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear of immediate harm.
Aggravated Assault: An unlawful attack by one person upon another wherein the offender uses a weapon or displays it in a threatening manner, or the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.
Burglary: The unlawful entry into a building or other structure with the intent to commit a felony or a theft.
Motor Vehicle Theft: The theft of a motor vehicle.
Arson: To unlawfully and intentionally damage or attempt to damage any real or personal property by fire or incendiary device.
Domestic violence: Means a felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred. (*Note: for Cornell Policy 6.4 definitions link here)
Dating violence: Means violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim, where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of the inter nation between the persons involved in the relationship. For the purpose of this definition, dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse. Dating violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence. (*Note: for Cornell Policy 6.4 definitions link here)
Stalking: Is engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to (i) fear for his or her safety or the safety of others or (ii) suffer substantial emotional distress. (*Note: for Cornell Policy 6.4 definitions link here)
Additional Reportable Offenses if they are Hate Crimes:
- Larceny-Theft: The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.
- Simple Assault: An unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.
- Intimidation: To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.
- Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property: To willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without consent of the owner or the person having custody or control over it.
Hate Crimes Biases
- Race: A preformed negative attitude toward a group of persons who possess common physical characteristics (e.g. color of skin, eyes, and/or hair; facial features, etc.) genetically transmitted by descent and heredity which distinguish them as a distinct division of humankind.
- Gender: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons because those persons are male or female.
- Gender Identity. A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender identity, e.g., bias against transgender or gender non-conforming individuals.
- Religion: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons who share the same religious beliefs regarding the origin and purpose of the universe and the existence or nonexistence of a supreme being (e.g., Catholics, Jews, Protestants, atheists).
- Sexual orientation: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their sexual attraction toward, and responsiveness to, members of their own sex or members of the opposite sex (e.g., gays, lesbians, heterosexuals).
- Ethnicity: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, common culture (often including a shared religion) and/or ideology that stresses common ancestry.
- National origin: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of people based on their actual or perceived country of birth.
- Disability: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their physical or mental impairments/challenges, whether such disability is temporary or permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age or illness.
Weapon Law Violations: The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, concealment, or use of firearms, cutting instruments, explosives, incendiary devices, or other deadly weapons.
Drug Abuse Violations: The violation of laws prohibiting the production, distribution and/or use of certain controlled substances and the equipment or devices utilized in their preparation and/or use.
Liquor Law Violations: The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, or use of alcoholic beverages, not including driving under the influence and drunkenness.
Clery Geography
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 the area identified in 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).
On-campus Residential (a subset of on-campus):
Any student housing facility that is owned or controlled by the institution, or is located on property that is owned or controlled by the institution, and is within the reasonably contiguous geographic area that makes up the campus is considered an on-campus student housing facility.
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.
Noncampus:
Any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized (or registered) 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.