By Oct. 1 of each year, Sacred Heart University publishes their Annual Campus Security Report to the public.
The Clery Act, officially known as the the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act, enacted in 1990. It requires colleges and universities to record specific campus crime statistics and safety policies for consumer protection as well as publicly out the policies and procedures they have put into place to improve campus safety.
Institutions of higher education must include criminal offenses, hate crimes, and arrests and referrals for disciplinary action in their report.
This report is updated annually and includes statistics on public property that is leased or owned by Sacred Heart. Institutional policies and procedures concerning campus security, crime or fire reporting, fire drills, fire related injuries, property damage, sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, alcohol, drugs, weapons, emergency procedures and other matters such as these are also included in this report.
“Nothing was reported that surprised me. The reported Clery incidents type are consistent with past years,” said Jack Fernandez, Director of Public Safety at Sacred Heart.
Public Safety reports that the crime spike from the calendar year of 2021 is due to the 2020 spring semester classes being moved online until the fall semester of 2020.
Additionally, the student population continues to increase at Sacred Heart, which Fernandez also attributes a slight rise in crime each year.
unior Adriana Lamano has just moved into off-campus university-owned housing after living on campus for the past two years.
“I think that having access to this report provides a sense of comfort and it is nice to know that there is accountability within the university,” said Lamano.
The goal of the Clery Act report is to ensure students, prospective students, parents, and employees have access to accurate information about crimes committed on campus and campus security procedures.
However, the Clery report does not cover the crimes committed off campus, such as crimes that involve students’ houses in the local community, which raises concerns for junior Kelsey Hottenstein who lives off campus.
“Living off campus in a house can be scary. I have heard of my teammates’ houses getting broken into over breaks. Luckily, my housemates and I have cameras and do feel very safe in the area we live in,” said Hottenstein.
According to Fernandez, off-campus crimes are only informed to the university community if needed.
One of the best ways to decrease offenses is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. “Be aware of your surroundings, report suspicious activities, utilize the locks and access control systems in place and if going out, travel with others,” said Fernandez.
This past year, there were no illegal weapon violations, and no liquor or drug law violations that warranted any arrests. There were 461 liquor law violations and 51 drug law violations that led to judicial referrals within the school’s conduct office. No criminal homicides happened this past year. There were six offenses of rape and three accounts of forcible
fondling. In regards to dating violence there were three offenses and one offense of domestic violence as well as eight accounts of stalking.
To access this year’s Clery Report and the university’s policies, go to sacredheart.edu/offices–departments-directory/public-safety/crime- prevention–reporting/.
Printed copies are also available upon request at the Public Safety Dispatch Center located in the WSHU Broadcast Center in the lower level.
