Now that we know the foundation of the Clery Act and the basics of the annual report, we can highlight the importance Clery places on geography. Practitioners often repeat the mantra, "Clery cares about the what and the where" as a way to remind themselves of reporting parameters.

The "What"

The "what" of Clery reporting involves those crime categories that the Clery Act requires institutions of higher learning to disclose. The definitions of those crimes are based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting definitions, rather than those of local jurisdiction's, to build in uniformity for those looking at the statistics. The notion of "Clery reportable crimes" plays a big role in not only disclosures, but also federally mandated communication to campus communities like UD's Safety Advisories and emergency notifications.

Reporting obligations do not dictate how the Department of Public Safety or the University views crime, however, as all reported crimes appear on our crime log and can be investigated by our department. 

The "where"

Not all crimes in Clery categories are disclosed in the statistics, however. The federal government requires disclosure of only those Clery category crimes occurring on Clery geography. Clery geography also has categories, but if the University owns or controls the location or it is public property within/around that owned or controlled location, it is a good chance the area is part of Clery geography.

What this means

This means that the statistics in our annual disclosures are geography-based and it's important to remember that when reviewing the charts. This means that unaffiliated individuals involved in a Clery-reportable crime on a sidewalk that borders campus will have their statistic disclosed, but a campus-affiliated person who experiences a Clery-reportable crime on private property will not. For instance, if someone unaffiliated with the University has their car stolen from the parking lot at University Place, it would appear in our statistical disclosures because the parking lot at University Place is in UD's Clery geography. Conversely, if a staff member's car were stolen from the parking lot behind Panera, it would not appear in our statistical disclosures because the Panera parking lot is private property.

In tomorrow's post, we will share how geography and reportable crimes influence the types of emergency messaging the University issues to the community.