Clery Act and similar legislation impact on college security issues

Clery Act

The Jean Cleary disclosure of campus crime statistics and campus security or clery act is a federal statute that was codified with the implementation of the U.S. code of federal regulations .this act requires that all universities and colleges which are participants of financial aid by the federal programs to always keep and disclose information that pertains to crime on or near the respective campuses. The compliance to this act is strictly monitored by the department of education in the United States which has the mandate of the imposition of civil penalties for violation of this act. Institutions found with any infraction can be suspended from the participation of student financial aid programs by the federal government (Wood, & Janosik, 2012). The paper will look at how the clery act and similar reporting legislations have impacted how universities and colleges deal with issues that pertain to security.

Crime reporting requirements

The clery act requires that colleges and universities follow three guidelines when it comes to the policy for reporting crimes .first colleges and universities are supposed to make the reporting procedures public. The policy of disclosure of the clery act requires that the officials in these institutions avail all regulations when it comes to crime reporting.it requires that there is use of similar reporting procedures for all crimes which have been committed within campuses as well as the recording and maintenance of these reports.it should also include regulations regarding contact information for officials in campus involved in law enforcement as well as the security rules pertaining to all structures in the campus. This annual clery report maintains the institutional crime reporting information from three years before and instances of emergency warning. This requirement has helped institutions deal with issues that concern security since from the reports crime patterns can be established. This information can be used to deal with any impending crimes which follow the same pattern.it also helps to strengthen security structures that are in place within these institutions through recommendations given after report has been reviewed (Wood, & Janosik, 2012).

Another requirement is having public crime log, institutions are expected to maintain public crime log with security department or the police. This log should include the nature, date, time and location of each and every crime as well as its disposition. All crime incidences should be entered into the public crime log in just two business days. The public should be able to access the log during normal business hours and it should be open for 60 days and availed within two business days when it is requested. This assists institutions deal with security issues as the information that is disclosed to the public about the crimes can be used to mitigate crimes tat occur in these institutions. This is through public programs or even programs that have been organized by the institutions to deal with the crimes whose time, nature, and location of occurrence have been established. Therefore it becomes very easy for institutions to deal with crimes when this information has been given since everyone will be at the look out incase other crimes of similar nature, time, and location occur (Clery Center for Security On Campus, 2012).

Another requirement is providing timely warnings by institutions of crimes that have impending threats to the safety of employees and students within the institutions. The institutions are supposed to give the community details of crimes which are part of the clery statistics. This has helped in dealing with issues pertaining to security as the warnings make it easy for students and employees to prepare for any impending safety threats in good time.