The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) requires colleges and universities to disclose statistics annually both for crimes reported to local agencies and crimes reported to campus security authorities. The Cornell University Police Department is responsible for the annual collection of Clery Act crime statistics, and for reporting such information directly to the U.S. Department of Education and to the Cornell University community in CampusWatch, the Clery Act-mandated Annual Security Report published each year.
The Clery Act requires that we include in our annually published statistics any Clery Act crime reported to a CSA. Those offenses are murder and non-negligent manslaughter, manslaughter by negligence, sex assault (rape, fondling, incest, and statutory rape), robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. We are also required to report statistics for arrests or campus disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations, drug related violations, and/or weapons possession. Finally, the Clery Act requires that we report statistics for certain bias-related (hate) crimes. For a definition of the above crimes, please see Crime Definitions.
We are required to disclose such statistics for offenses that occur (1) on campus, (2) on public property, including thoroughfares, streets, sidewalks, and parking facilities, within or immediately adjacent to the campus, and (3) in or on non-campus buildings or property. The Clery Act defines non-campus buildings or property as those 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.
The crime data is included in the University’s annual security report (CampusWatch) and is displayed in a format that mirrors what is required by the Department of Education and may differ from data reported under federal or state Uniformed Crime Reporting (UCR) programs. The difference exists because the Department of Education requires the inclusion of information that is not reportable under UCR programs.