Arrow Perspectives: Clarity on the Clery Act, Title IX, and Security Obligations

While most colleges, universities, and many K-12 schools are on summer break, public safety remains a 365-day-a-year topic for school administrators.

With that in mind, this article provides insights for education practitioners who must adhere to the reporting and procedural guidelines of 2 specific public-safety laws – Title IX and the Clery Act – along with considerations from the vantagepoint of the on-the-ground security officer(s) who often are at the forefront of confronting the crimes outlined in each law.

For context, Title IX is a well-known civil rights law enacted in 1972 that states “No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

It’s a broadly encompassing law which applies to both K-12 and higher-education institutions and, among other things, requires a number of written protective procedures and protocols by the institution for victims who report specific crime(s) under the law.

The Clery Act (enacted in 1990), on the other hand only applies to higher education institutions. It requires them to 1) prepare an annual security report (ARS) reflecting its current policies, and 2) provide victims of specific crimes (criminal offenses, hate crimes, arrests and referrals, and violence-against-women offenses) with information in writing about options for, available assistance in, and how to request living-conditional changes and protective measures (also, among other things).

For administrators who must adhere to these rules, the below are a few intersections of each law worth noting:

• Both require training for individuals who are principally involved in disciplinary proceedings
• Both require simultaneous notification in writing to complainants and respondents, as well as reporting to their respective regulatory bodies
• The evidence collected is crucial for both, although under the Clery Act, institutions must describe what standard of evidence they use for such proceedings, while institutions under Title IX have to specify whether they use either the “preponderance of evidence,” or “clear and convincing” standard.

Since crimes committed on both K-12 and college campuses can vary in severity and criminal merit, having security officers who understand the sensitivity of the event, and the situational awareness to properly address (and report) an incident is an important detail in the world of security services…. and we at Arrow take it very seriously.

Whether your campus uses in-house or SRO officers, or outsources or contract security, the training each officer has is a vital part of ensuring your school has the proper protocols to protect the victim, and any & all parties involved. At Arrow Security, we offer dozens of education-specific security training courses for officers, including:

• The Clery Act
• Title IX and Sexual Misconduct for K-12
• Campus Security Reporting
• Parking Lot Safety
• Patrol
• General HIPAA Awareness
• Hate Crimes

In addition, our seasoned leadership team has deep expertise in handling sensitive security matters such as Clery Act offenses, and we have worked with many of our education vertical clients to implement proper procedures and best practices intended to help prevent such crimes.

If you would like to learn more, contact us today at info@arrowsecurity.com.

We’re always available to have an exploratory, discreet, discussion to address these and other public safety & security concerns. 

More About the Clery Act

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act requires higher education institutions to collect, report, and disseminate reported crime data and information and fire statistics to the campus community, the Department of Education, and prospective students and employees. In addition, the Act also requires institutions to complete the following:

• Publish an annual report every year by October 1 that contains three years of campus crime and fire safety statistics

• Disclose crime statistics for the campus, public property, and certain non-campus buildings or properties

• Provide “timely warning” notices for any Clery Act crime

• Issue an emergency notification upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees occurring on the campus

• Disclose in a public crime log “any crime that occurred on campus…or within the patrol jurisdiction of the campus police or the campus security department and is reported to the campus police or security department”

• Provide educational programs and campaigns to promote the awareness of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking

• Disclose procedures for institutional disciplinary action in cases of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice of any kind. The information herein was sourced from third parties that Arrow Security believes to be reputable and reliable. Always refer to local jurisdictions for any legal precedents.