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Chapter 22 Supplement Special Topics

• The FBI reported that in 1998 violent crime on campuses increased by 1%. The greatest increase in violent crime was in campus murder and nonnegligent manslaughter (FBI October 1999).

• According to the same study, forcible rapes increased by 11.4% and aggravated assaults increased by 2.7%. The numbers include only those offenses known to the police and not other campus officials as the Jeanne Clery Act requires (Ibid.).

• The 1999 College Alcohol Study, conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health surveyed 14,000 students at 119 colleges and universities and found that 44% of the students met the widely accepted definition for binge drinking, up 1% from the previous year. Four in five students who were not excessive drinkers but lived on campus experienced one or more of the repercussions of heavy drinking, including being the victim of an assault or unwelcome sexual advance and/or having their property damaged (Harvard School of Public Health 1999).

• A national survey released by the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention found that between 75% and 90% of all violence on college campuses is alcohol-related (Security on Campus n.d.).

• A study commissioned by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) found that over 8% of college women had been raped in the last six months (Fisher et al. August 1998).

In November 1999, the U.S. Department of Education issued final guidelines on the 1998 amendments to the Jeanne Clery Act regarding the public reporting of campus crime statistics that specifically address off-campus and adjacent-to-campus student victimization. The new regulations require the report of criminal victimization of students in off-campus housing that has a school affiliation, and on public and private property located off-campus but adjacent thereto. Schools are also expected to make a "good faith" effort to obtain crime report information from local police.

A second clarification of the Clery amendments expanded requirements for the reporting of hate crimes so that schools must report by category of prejudice be it race, gender, religion, orientation, ethnicity, or disability according to the FBI's Hate Crime Data Collection Guidelines (S.O.C. 1 November 1999).

PRIVACY RIGHTS AND THE CLERY ACT

The Foley amendment to the Clery Act establishes that the final results of disciplinary cases where a student has been found to have broken a school rule in association with a crime of violence or nonforcible sex offense are no longer protected from disclosure under federal student privacy laws. In a recent challenge to that Act, an Ohio Federal District Court judge ruled that campus court records at Miami University of Ohio and Ohio State University are "education records" protected from public release by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and barred schools from releasing these types of records. This judgment includes the records of students found to have committed sexual assault and other serious crimes. Safety advocates and student journalists were disappointed by the decision because students cannot know the full extent of crime that occurs on the campuses without access to these records (Carter 20 March 2000).

NEW JERSEY CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT BILL OF RIGHTS ACT

Title 18 A.61E.1 of the New Jersey Code is a campus bill of rights for sexual assault victims that every institution of higher education in New Jersey is mandated to uphold. The following rights are afforded to student victims of sexual assault that occur on the campus of any public or independent institution of higher education and/or when the student involved is a victim of an off-campus assault:

• To be free from any suggestion that victims must report the crimes to be assured of any other right guaranteed under this policy.

• To have any allegations of sexual assault treated seriously.

• To be treated with dignity.

• To be free from any indication that the victims are responsible for the commission of crimes against them.

Furthermore, sexual assault victims are to be free from any pressure from campus personnel:

• To report crimes if the victim does not wish to do so.

• To report crimes as lesser offenses than the victim perceives the crime to be.

• To refrain from reporting crimes to avoid unwanted publicity.

Sexual Assault victims have the follow rights to resources off and on campus:

• To be notified of existing campus and community-based medical, counseling, mental health and student services for victims of sexual assault, whether or not the crime is formally reported to the campus or civil authorities.

• To have access to campus counseling under the same terms and conditions that apply to other students in their institution.
• To be informed of and assisted in exercising any rights to confidential or anonymous testing for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, and pregnancy; any rights that may be provided by law to compel and disclose if the assault suspects have communicable diseases.

Sexual assault victims are entitled to the following campus judicial rights:

• To be afforded the same access to legal assistance as the accused.

• To be afforded the same opportunity to have others present during any campus disciplinary proceedings.

• To be notified of the outcome of the sexual assault disciplinary proceeding against the accused.

• To receive full and prompt cooperation and assistance of campus personnel in notifying the proper authorities.

• To receive full and prompt victim sensitive cooperation of campus personnel with regard to securing and maintaining evidence, including a medical examination when it is necessary to preserve evidence of the assault.

Sexual victims are entitled to the following campus intervention rights:

• To require campus personnel to take reasonable and necessary actions to prevent further unwanted contact of victims by their alleged assailants; and,

• To be notified of the options for and provided assistance in changing academic and living situations if such changes are reasonably available (Title 18 A.61E. 1 of the New Jersey Permanent Statutes, The New Jersey Campus Sexual Assault Bill of Rights Act, 1994).

NEW YORK CAMPUS SAFETY ACT

The New York Campus Safety Act requires institutions of higher education in New York state to implement written plans in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies when an investigation of a violent crime of a missing student becomes necessary. Brought about by the efforts of the family of Suzanne Lyall, a student at SUNY-Albany who disappeared in March 1998, the purpose of the Act is to set in motion a protocol that will avoid unnecessary delays that may increase the potential for tragedy. Articulation of "who" should do "what" and "when" a student is considered missing needs to be clearly defined, including a time line as to when the parents should be notified. A second aspect of the bill provides for a "hotline" that can be utilized by parents of a missing child that connects the family with a missing person's expert who is available to refer, advise, direct, and counsel the family as needed. Compliance with the law, which was signed on April 6, 1999, began on January 1, 2000 (The New York Campus Safety Act, April 6, 1999, New York State Bill SO2862).

• The Arizona Rape Prevention Education Data and Evaluation Project collects and evaluates sexual assault surveillance information, acts as a clearinghouse on current research in the field, and provides technical assistance to schools and communities on rape education and crisis response. Arizona Rape Prevention Education Data and Evaluation Project, University of Arizona College of Public Health, 2223 East Speedway Boulevard, Tucson AZ 85719 (520-316-7211) <http://www.u.arizona.edu/sexasslt/arpedep/>.

• Security On Campus (S.O.C.), Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of campus violence and to assisting campus victims in the enforcement of their legal rights, is actively involved in building awareness and increasing safety on colleges and universities. Its goals are to continue legislative efforts at the federal and state levels to compel education administrators to report campus crime to law enforcement; monitor completeness and accuracy of campus crime statistics; persuade college and university almanacs and directories to include campus crime and security in their coverage; continue providing victims and their parents with information for healing and redress; utilize the office as a central resource center for providing referrals to agencies that can provide emotional support and criminal justice system intervention; and increase safety on campuses by promoting the restructuring of college and university security forces. Security on Campus, Inc., 215 West Church Road, Suite 200, King of Prussia, PA 19406-3207 (Hotline: 888-231-7959) <http:///www.socnline.org>.

• Safe Campuses Now is a state-funded, student-run, volunteer crime prevention awareness and education organization at the University of Georgia. Its goal is to provide online crime alerts to 30,000 university students; provide students with facts about violent and property crime, both on and off campus; offer tips on crime prevention; and offer links with crime prevention programs at universities around the country that have been reviewed and found to provide an effective service to students. Composite drawings of violent perpetrators at large are reproduced online. In its university links, particular emphasis is placed upon institutions that collaborate with local law enforcement to provide information to students about crimes occurring off campus where the majority of students live and the majority of crimes take place. Safe Campuses Now, 337 South Milledge Avenue, Suite 117, Athens, GA 30605 (706-354-1115).

• The Tulane University Department of Public Safety (TUDPS) works closely with the second district police department in New Orleans, LA, to stay up-to-date on all "part one" offenses that occur off campus near the university. Members of the department attend weekly meetings at the police department to determine the hot spots, where crimes are occurring regularly. TUDPS cultivates an open relationship with student victims of crime, respecting their choices on reporting crimes while encouraging them to provide information that could improve the safety of the overall student body. TUDPS works closely with members of student government and the school newspaper to see that they are up-to-date on ongoing crime threats, posting information about threats on the crime prevention board at the student union and the Crime Watch page of the newspaper. Awareness of and communication about crime are considered the most important elements of campus crime prevention. Tulane University Department of Public Safety, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118 (504-865-5381).

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