This safety brochure is dedicated to our beloved daughter, Jeanne Ann Clery (1966-1986), and the thousands of campus crime victims...their families and friends.

This brochure is also available in Adobe's PDF format, which requires the free Acrobat reader to view and print. Select the image to the right to begin your download.

The PDF file is identical to the printed version available by calling 1-888-251-7959.

Your Safety is #1!

Dear Friend,

Our beloved daughter was beaten, raped, murdered, and robbed at 6:00 a.m. in her Lehigh dormitory room by a student she did not know. Her murderer was an alcohol and drug abuser who was out to rob dormitory rooms. Tragically, our perception that college and university campuses are safe educational havens for students has been destroyed by scores of student homicides, thousands of rapes, assaults, and robberies each year. The most distressing statistic: 80% of campus crime is student-on-student.

Security On Campus, Inc. (est. 1987) has been the driving force behind the passage of Federal and State Laws that promote campus safety and protect student-victims' rights. The Jeanne Clery Act requires all colleges and Universities to report the number of campus crimes per category to the campus community and prospective students.

The reasons for campus security and crime reporting requirements are many. Surveys by on- and off-campus rape/crisis centers and various social scientists conclude that acquaintance rape and sexual assault are common-place on many campuses; the probability of a female student being sexually assaulted over four years is approximately 25% on a national basis. Nine of ten student felonies involve alcohol or drugs.

To further jeopardize the campus community, many of the annual campus crime reports reflect public relations rather than reality. Many felonies are downgraded to misconduct charges. Many crime statistics do not include crimes reported to Deans' Offices, Judicial Committees, or Rape/Crisis Centers. And some campus police forces are verbally instructed to make few under-age drinking and drug arrests.

We hope your college and university administrators are telling the whole truth and making serious efforts to improve campus safety.

-Connie & Howard Clery

FUNDAMENTALS

• Freshmen should "respectfully decline" to have photo and personal information published for distribution to the campus community. Fraternities and upperclassmen have abused this type of publication to "target" naive freshmen.
• Study the campus and neighborhood with respect to routes between your residence and class/activities schedule. Know where emergency phones are located.
• Share your class/activities schedule with parents and a network of close friends, effectively creating a type of "buddy" system. Give network telephone numbers to your parents, advisors, and friends.
• Always travel in groups. Use a shuttle service after dark. Never walk alone at night. Avoid "shortcuts".
• Survey the campus, academic buildings, residence halls, and other facilities while classes are in session and after dark to see that buildings, walkways, quad-rangles, and parking lots are adequately secured, lit and patrolled. Are emergency phones, escorts, and shuttle services adequate?
• To gauge the social scene, drive down fraternity row on weekend nights and stroll through the student hangouts. Are people behaving responsibly, or does the situation seem reckless and potentially dangerous? Remember, alcohol and/or drug abuse is involved in about 90% of campus crime. Carefully evaluate off-campus student apartment complexes and fraternity houses if you plan to live off-campus.

RESIDENCE

• Doors and windows to your residence hall should be equipped with quality locking mechanisms. Room doors should be equipped with peep holes and deadbolts. Always lock them when you are absent. Do not loan out your key. Rekey locks when a key is lost or stolen.
• Card access systems are far superior to standard metal key and lock systems. Card access enables immediate lock changes when keys are lost, stolen, or when housing assignments change. Most hotels and hospitals have changed to card access systems for safety reasons. Higher education institutions need to adopt similar safety features.
• Always lock your doors and 1st and 2nd floor windows at night . Never compromise your safety for a roommate who asks you to leave the door unlocked.
• Dormitories should have a central entrance/exit lobby where nighttime access is monitored, as well as an outside telephone which visitors must use to gain access.
• Dormitory residents should insist that residential assistants and security patrols routinely check for "propped doors" - day and night.
• Do not leave your identification, wallets, checkbooks, jewelry, cameras, and other valuables in open view.
• Program your phone's speed dial memory with emergency numbers that include family and friends.
• Know your neighbors and don't be reluctant to report illegal activities and suspicious loitering.

Alert!!!

Students must be more aware and in control at school functions, parties, bars and restaurants. The number of violent crimes is alarming. The date rape drugs (GHB and Rohypnol) are being used to spike women's drinks prior to sexual assaults.

OFF-CAMPUS RESIDENTS

Off-campus residents should contact their student legal aid representative to draft leases that stipulate minimum standards of security and responsibility. Students and parents should also consult any "Neighborhood Watch" association active in the community or the municipal police regarding local crime rates.

Campus Safety Evaluation

SERIOUS QUESTIONS TO ASK ADMISSIONS DEPARTMENT AND DEAN OF STUDENTS:

Q:Does the institution publish campus crime information as required by The Jeanne Clery Act? (Request a copy)

Q:Do the annual crime statistics include reports to the dean's office, judicial hearings, women's rape/crisis centers?

Q:Are Security Logs open for public inspection?

Q:Does the school ask applicants if they have been arrested and convicted of a crime? Do they admit applicants with a criminal history?

Q:Are campus crime policies and penalties explicitly addressed during orientation, as well as prominently stipulated in the student handbook?

Q:Are drinking, drug, and weapon laws strictly enforced?

Q::Are bathroom doors in coed dorms secured with master locks for floor residents?

Q:Are single sex and "substance free" dormitories available?

Q:Does the school address the entire student body during the academic year about growing problems related to campus crime: date rape and sexual assault, alcohol and drug abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases? When? Who addresses the students?

Q:Does the school have an open judicial committee? How many and what type of cases did the judicial committee handle last year?

Q:Does the school provide immediate medical, psychological, and legal aid to victims, as required by the Campus Sexual Assault Victims' Bill of Rights (Federal Law 1992)?

Repeat similar questions to the Campus Security Dept. and the Women's Rape/Crisis Center. Then compare responses and figures. Schools with aggressive crime reporting and a low tolerance for criminal behavior provide safer environments where students can focus on their educational goals.

Campus Crime Evaluation

School: __________________________________________

Total Student Body: ________________________________

Post Evaluation Analysis

Ask yourself if administrators have responded to your questions consistently and courteously? Or, have you been given the impression that your safety concerns are paranoid and that you should consider other schools?

Compare figures and responses from different departments. Are there serious discrepancies between your totals and the figures reported to the U.S. Department of Education?

Calculate campus crimes per thousand students and com-pare them with other schools. Also, attempt a balanced evaluation by combining your subjective impressions with any calculations. Remember that schools which aggressively report and act on campus crime problems are generally safer choices.

Security On Campus, Inc.