Spring Break
MU extends Campus Crime Alert criteria to include burglaries
Caitlin Varley
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Front Page
It may seem like the number of Campus Crime Alerts at Miami University has drastically increased this year, but according to officials, it is hard to say if there actually have been more, or if this is due to stricter guidelines for issuing the alerts.
"It's hard to say if we've issued more alerts this year than we would have done in past years if we applied the same guidelines that we're applying this year," Lt. Andrew Powers of the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) said.
According to Powers, one change involves burglaries. In the past, a Campus Crime Alert was only issued if someone was home at the time of the burglary, but now the police department has expanded that to include burglaries when no one was home.
"For the most part, though, we issue crime alerts in situations where there is an unidentified suspect who's still at large and represents an ongoing threat to the safety of our community," Powers said.
According to Claire Wagner, director of the news and public information office, there have been eight campus crime alerts so far this semester. This relates to seven in the entire 2004-05 academic year, five in 2005-06 and eight in 2006-07.
Powers said that on average Miami sees about six to 10 crime alerts each school year.
According to Powers, the crime alerts are issued in part to satisfy the Campus Security Act and the guidelines of the Clery Act, which is constantly being reinterpreted.
"Based on advice of our legal counsel from reviewing some recent audits and evaluations of Clery compliance procedures it was determined that (expanding the guidelines for Campus Crime Alerts) was an appropriate thing to do," Powers said.
Wagner agreed that this year's addition of Campus Crime Alerts for burglaries even when no one is home is due to the review of the criteria of the Clery Act.
Powers added that burglaries are more serious if someone is breaking into a residential space, even if no one is home, because the potential for danger is there.
"It's hard to say if we've issued more alerts this year than we would have done in past years if we applied the same guidelines that we're applying this year," Lt. Andrew Powers of the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) said.
According to Powers, one change involves burglaries. In the past, a Campus Crime Alert was only issued if someone was home at the time of the burglary, but now the police department has expanded that to include burglaries when no one was home.
"For the most part, though, we issue crime alerts in situations where there is an unidentified suspect who's still at large and represents an ongoing threat to the safety of our community," Powers said.
According to Claire Wagner, director of the news and public information office, there have been eight campus crime alerts so far this semester. This relates to seven in the entire 2004-05 academic year, five in 2005-06 and eight in 2006-07.
Powers said that on average Miami sees about six to 10 crime alerts each school year.
According to Powers, the crime alerts are issued in part to satisfy the Campus Security Act and the guidelines of the Clery Act, which is constantly being reinterpreted.
"Based on advice of our legal counsel from reviewing some recent audits and evaluations of Clery compliance procedures it was determined that (expanding the guidelines for Campus Crime Alerts) was an appropriate thing to do," Powers said.
Wagner agreed that this year's addition of Campus Crime Alerts for burglaries even when no one is home is due to the review of the criteria of the Clery Act.
Powers added that burglaries are more serious if someone is breaking into a residential space, even if no one is home, because the potential for danger is there.
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