Spring Break
MU extends Campus Crime Alert criteria to include burglaries
Caitlin Varley
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Front Page
"It's a matter of making sure that people are aware of things that could affect them," Powers said.
Wagner said that she does not feel pressure to report more crime alerts and the reason Miami is reporting more is to be compliance with the Clery Act.
According to Richard Nault, vice president for student affairs, Miami has an institutional response team that looks at an emergency and decides what the institution should do about the situation.
Wagner said that the first criteria for a situation that warrants a crime alert is a potential threat to safety in the community.
She added that the Clery Act has a list of crimes that universities are supposed to respond to.
Alison Kiss, program director of Security on Campus, Inc., said the Clery Act mandates several things.
According to Kiss, the Clery Act mandates that a timely warning be issued if there is a current or ongoing threat to students. It also requires universities to publish an annual security report, including three years of crime statistics and campus policies on how they issue warnings, what to do if a student is a victim of crime and the school's drug and alcohol policy. Universities must also have a public crime log.
The MPUD has a public log of all reported criminal activity, not just situations that warrant campus crime alerts, for the current academic year on its Web site.
Kiss said that the Clery Act also requires schools to give certain rights to sexual assault victims, which is referred to outside of the law as the campus sexual assault victim's bill of rights.
Powers said that another purpose of crime alerts is to potentially generate leads and information that could help the police close cases, which has happened in the past.
According to Wagner, Miami's Campus Crime Alert e-mails go out to students, faculty and staff.
"We try to get (the alert) out within a day to a day and a half that we have all the information," Wagner said.
Wagner said that she does not feel pressure to report more crime alerts and the reason Miami is reporting more is to be compliance with the Clery Act.
According to Richard Nault, vice president for student affairs, Miami has an institutional response team that looks at an emergency and decides what the institution should do about the situation.
Wagner said that the first criteria for a situation that warrants a crime alert is a potential threat to safety in the community.
She added that the Clery Act has a list of crimes that universities are supposed to respond to.
Alison Kiss, program director of Security on Campus, Inc., said the Clery Act mandates several things.
According to Kiss, the Clery Act mandates that a timely warning be issued if there is a current or ongoing threat to students. It also requires universities to publish an annual security report, including three years of crime statistics and campus policies on how they issue warnings, what to do if a student is a victim of crime and the school's drug and alcohol policy. Universities must also have a public crime log.
The MPUD has a public log of all reported criminal activity, not just situations that warrant campus crime alerts, for the current academic year on its Web site.
Kiss said that the Clery Act also requires schools to give certain rights to sexual assault victims, which is referred to outside of the law as the campus sexual assault victim's bill of rights.
Powers said that another purpose of crime alerts is to potentially generate leads and information that could help the police close cases, which has happened in the past.
According to Wagner, Miami's Campus Crime Alert e-mails go out to students, faculty and staff.
"We try to get (the alert) out within a day to a day and a half that we have all the information," Wagner said.
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