Disclosure of Crime Statistics Policy

Responsible Unit: Security | Executive lead: CIO 
Created: 06/2013 | Reviewed/Revised: 02/2016, 11/2022 | Effective: 12/15/2022 
Compliance: 34 CFR Section 668.46(b)(12), Clery Act, COCA 4.2, CAPTE 3E, CAPTE 5C 
Approving Body: PAC | Classification: Institution wide 

Policy:  
PNWU annually collects, reports, and discloses crime statistics per the Clery Act as revised and effective July 1, 2015. These crimes are those that occur on or within the University’s Clery geography and that are reported to local police agencies or to the campus security authority. These statistics must be reported to the Department of Education and be included in the Annual Security Report for the three most recent calendar years. 
 
Each year, an email notification is sent to all enrolled students and employees that includes an electronic link to access the Annual Security Report. Copies of the report may also be obtained from PNWU Campus Security and Human Resources. The electronic link to access the Annual Security Report is included in PNWU employment and student applications. 

Crime Statistics 

  1. Crimes that must be recorded and disclosed 
    • Primary crimes, including: 
      • Criminal homicide:
        • Murder and non-negligent manslaughter; and
        • Manslaughter by Negligence 
      • Sexual offenses: 
        • Rape; 
        • Fondling; 
        • Incest; and 
        • Statutory rape
      • Robbery 
      • Aggravated Assault 
      • Burglary 
      • Motor Vehicle Theft 
      • Arson 
    • Arrests and referrals for disciplinary actions, including: 
      • Arrests for liquor law violations, drug abuse violations, and weapons law violations. 
      • Persons not included in paragraph (2)(a) of this section who were referred for campus disciplinary action for liquor law violations, drug abuse violations, and weapons law violations. 
    • Hate crimes, including: 
      • The number of each type of crime in paragraph (1) of this section that are determined to be hate crimes; and 
      • The number of the following crimes that are determined to be hate crimes: 
        • Larceny-theft 
        • Simple assault 
        • Intimidation 
        • Destruction/damage/vandalism of property 
        • Dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking as defined in the definitions of this policy 
  2. All reported crimes must be recorded. 
    • PNWU includes in its crime statistics all crimes listed in paragraph (I)(1) of this section occurring on or within its Clery geography that are reported to a campus security authority for purposes of Clery Act reporting. Clery Act reporting does not require initiating an investigation or disclosing personally identifying information about the victim, as defined in section 40002 (a)(20) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925 (a)(20)). 
    • PNWU may not withhold, or subsequently remove, a reported crime from its crime statistics based on a decision by a court, coroner, jury, prosecutor, or other similar non-campus official. 
    • PNWU may withhold, or subsequently remove, a reported crime from its crime statistics in the rare situation where sworn or commissioned law enforcement personnel have fully investigated  the reported crime and, based on the results of this full investigation and evidence, have made a formal determination that the crime report is false or baseless and therefore “unfounded.” Only sworn or commissioned law enforcement personnel may “unfound” a crime report for purposes of reporting under this section. The recovery of stolen property, the low value of stolen property, the refusal of the victim to cooperate with the prosecution, and the failure to make an arrest do not “unfound” a crime report. 
      • PNWU must report to the Department of Education and disclose in its annual security report statistics the total number of crime reports listed in paragraph (I)(1) of this section that were “unfounded” and subsequently withheld from its crime statistics pursuant to paragraph (II)(3) of this section during each of the three most recent calendar years. 
  3. Crimes must be recorded by calendar year. 
    • PNWU will record a crime statistic for the calendar year in which the crime was reported to local police agencies or to a campus security authority. 
    • When recording crimes of stalking by calendar year, PNWU will follow the requirements in paragraph (6) of this section. 
  4. Hate crimes must be recorded by category of bias. 

For each hate crime recorded under paragraph (I)(3) of this section, PNWU will identify the category of bias that motivated the crime. For the purposes of this paragraph, the categories of bias include the victim’s actual or perceived: 

  1. Race; 
  2. Gender; 
  3. Gender Identity; 
  4. Religion; 
  5. Sexual Orientation; Ethnicity; 
  6. National Origin; and 
  7. Disability. 
  1. Crimes must be recorded by location.
    • PNWU will specify whether each of the crimes recorded under paragraph (I) of this section occurred – 
      • On campus; 
      • In or on a non-campus building or property; or 
      • On public property 
    • PNWU will identify, of the crimes that occurred on campus, the number that took place in dormitories or other residential facilities for students on campus. (PNWU does not have any residential facilities.) 
    • When recording stalking location, PNWU will follow the requirements in paragraph (6) of this section. 
  2. Reporting reports of stalking. 
    • When recording reports of stalking that include activities in more than one calendar year, PNWU will record a crime statistic for each and every year in which the course of conduct is reported to a local police agency or to a campus security authority. 
    • PNWU will record each report of stalking as occurring at only the first location within the institution’s Clery geography in which; 
      • A perpetrator engaged in the stalking course of conduct; or 
      • A victim first became aware of the stalking. 
  3. Identification of the victim or the accused. 
    • The crime statistics required do not include the identification of the victim or the person accused of committing the crime. 
  4. Pastoral and Professional counselor. 
    • An institution is not required to report crime statistics for crimes reported to a pastoral or professional counselor. 
  5. Using the FBI’s CR program and the Hierarchy Rule. 
    • PNWU will compile the crime statistics for murder and non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft arson, liquor law violations, drug law violations, and illegal weapons possession using the definitions of those crimes from the “Summary Reporting System (SRS) User Manual” from the FBI’s UCR Program. 
    • PNWU will compile the crime statistics for fondling, incest, and statutory rape using the definitions of those crimes from the “National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) User Manual” from the FBI’s UCR Program. 
    • PNWU will compile the crime statistics for the hate crimes of larceny-theft, simple assault, intimidation, and destruction/damage/vandalism of property using the definitions provided in the “Hate Crime Data Collection Guidelines and Training Manual” from the FBI’s UCR Program. 
    • PNWU will compile the crime statistics for dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking using the definitions provided in this policy. 
    • In counting crimes when more than one offense was committed during a single incident, PNWU will conform to the requirements of the Hierarchy Rule in the Summary Reporting System (SRS) User Manual. 
    • If arson is committed, PNWU will always record the arson in its statistics, regardless of whether or not it occurs in the same incident as another crime. 
    • If rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape occurs in the same incident as a murder, PNWU will record both the sex offense and the murder in its statistics. 
  6. Use of a map. 
    • In complying with the statistical reporting requirements for crime statistics, PNWU may provide a map to current and prospective students and employees that depicts its campus, non-campus buildings, or property, and public property areas if the map accurately depicts its campus, non-campus buildings or property, and public property areas. 
  7. Statistics from police agencies. 
    • In complying with the statistical reporting requirements for crime statistics, PNWU will make a reasonable, good-faith effort to obtain statistics for crimes that occurred on or within the institution’s Clery geography and may rely on the information supplied by local or State police agency. 
    • If PNWU makes such a reasonable, good-faith effort, it is not responsible for the failure of the local or State police agency to supply the require statistics. 

  
Definitions:   
Dating violence—Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. 

  1. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. 
  2. For the purposes of this definition— 
    • Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse. 
    • Dating violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence. 
  3. For the purposes of complying with the requirements of this section and § 668.41, any incident meeting this definition is considered a crime for the purposes of Clery Act reporting. Dating Violence does not fall within the Hierarchy Rule. 

Domestic violence—A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed— 

  1. By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim; 
  2. By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common; 
  3. By a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the victim as a spouse or intimate partner; 
  4. By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred, or 
  5. By any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred. 

For the purposes of complying with the requirements of this section and § 668.41, any incident meeting this definition is considered a crime for the purposes of Clery Act reporting. Domestic Violence does not fall within the Hierarchy Rule. 

Stalking—Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to— 

  1. Fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or 
  2. Suffer substantial emotional distress. 

For the purposes of this definition— 

  • Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person’s property. 
  • Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim. 
  • Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling. 

For the purposes of complying with the requirements of this section and section 668.41, any incident meeting this definition is considered a crime for the purposes of Clery Act reporting. Stalking does not fall within the Hierarchy Rule. 

Crime Definitions from the Summary Reporting System (SRS) User Manual from the FBI’s UCR Program: 

Arson—Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc. 
 
Criminal Homicide—Manslaughter by Negligence 
The killing of another person through gross negligence. 
 
Criminal Homicide—Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter 
The willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. 
 
Rape—The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. 
 
Robbery—The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear. 
 
Aggravated Assault—An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. (It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could and probably would result in serious personal injury if the crime were successfully completed.) 
 
Burglary—The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. For reporting purposes this definition includes unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. A structure is defined as having four walls, a roof, and a door. 
 
Motor Vehicle Theft—The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access even though the vehicles are later abandoned— including joyriding.) 
 
Weapons: Carrying, Possessing, Etc.—The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, concealment, or use of firearms, cutting instruments, explosives, incendiary devices, or other deadly weapons. 
 
Drug Abuse Violations—The violation of laws prohibiting the production, distribution, and/or use of certain controlled substances and the equipment or devices utilized in their preparation and/or use. The unlawful cultivation, manufacture, distribution, sale, purchase, use, possession, transportation, or importation of any controlled drug or narcotic substance. Arrests for violations of State and local laws, specifically those relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include: opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine); marijuana; synthetic narcotics—manufactured narcotics which can cause true addiction (Demerol, methadone); and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (barbiturates, Benzedrine). 
 
Liquor Law Violations—The violation of State or local laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, or use of alcoholic beverages, not including driving under the influence  or drunkenness. 
 
Crime Definitions from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) User Manual from the FBI’s UCR Program:  

Sex Offenses—Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent. 

  • Fondling—The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity. 
  • Incest—Sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law. 
  • Statutory Rape—Sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. 

  
Crime Definitions from the Hate Crime Data Collection Guidelines and Training Manual from the FBI’s UCR Program: 

Larceny-Theft (Except Motor Vehicle Theft)—The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another. Constructive possession is the condition in which a person does not have physical custody or possession but is in a position to exercise dominion or control over a thing. Attempted larcenies are included. Embezzlement, confidence games, forgery, worthless checks, etc., are excluded. 
 
Simple Assault—An unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness. 
 
Intimidation—To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack. 
 
Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property—To willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it. 

Procedure:  
N/A 

Related Documents: 
The Annual Campus Safety and Security Report is available on the Campus Security page

Policy Resources

For assistance with policies and procedures contact:

Lori Fulton
lfulton@pnwu.edu