The CLERY Update
Issue No. 3 - March 2025
The Clery Update is West Chester University's Clery Compliance monthly newsletter highlighting Announcements, Upcoming Clery Dates, Clery Facts, Reminders, and more.
Announcements
As the weather gets warmer and the West Chester community comes out if its winter hibernation be on the lookout for reports of Clery crimes/ incidents disclosed to you. Traditionally we see a jump in incidents as the weather warms and the year ticks to a close. As always, use the Clery report form found on the DPS's Clery website, or, if it is an emergency, call 911 or Public Safety at 610-436-3311.
Be Clear on Clery
The Clery Act requires institutions of higher education to maintain two types of alerting systems for separate and distinct purposes— emergency notifications and timely warnings. Each system has a distinct set of circumstances governing how, when and why such a notice is sent.
Upcoming Clery Dates
No upcoming dates.
Clery Fact/Did You Know
Th University is required to keep its Clery records for seven years. Actually, it's
six years and 9 months. How is that calculated? Well, a Title IV institution (WCU
is a Title IV institution) requires institutions to retain the Annual Security Report
(ASR) and all supporting records used in compiling the report for three years from
the date of the latest publication of the report to which they apply which is October
1 of each year. Wait, what?
If we use the most recent ASR as an example: the 2024 ASR was published on October
1, 2024, the supporting records for the 2022, 2023, and 2024 statistics must be retained
until at least October 1, 2027. If you stop by my office you'll see a banker's box
for the current Clery year being filled with all the records we are required to keep.
Other institutions have fallen afoul of this requirement. Not because of any malicious intent but rather because they kept too many years of records. So, when the institution was audited they had at least a decade's worth of records - so the Department of Education reviewed all the records kept. The lesson for all other Title IV institutions? Only keep what you have to keep. West Chester has a written schedule of record retention ensuring we retain only the records required to be kept consistent with the Clery Act.
Reminders
As a CSA you have a continuing duty to report any crime disclosed to you either by using the CSA reporting form or by calling Public Safety at 610-436-3311.
You can always view the Daily Crime Log on Public Safety's website by clicking here
Test Your Clery Knowledge
Clery statistics are collected and reported from what time frame?
A. Previous Academic Year
B. Previous Three Years
C. Previous Calendar Year
D. Previous Six Months
CSA of the Month
CSA of the Month
Name: Steve Mazurek
Position: Head Coach Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving
Department: Athletics
Fact about Me: I enjoy playing and writing music away from the pool.
The Clery Tally (Year-to-Date Clery stats as of the 15th of March)*
| Clery Crime | On-Campus Property | On-Campus Student Housing Facility** | Public Property | Noncampus Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rape | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Fondling | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Burglary | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dating Violence | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Stalking | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Arrests for Liquor Law Violations | 22 | 18 | 2 | 0 |
| Arrests for Drug Law Violations | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Disciplinary Referrals for Drug Law Violations | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Disciplinary Referrals for Alcohol Law Violations | 75 | 74 | 3 | 1 |
* The statistics in the tally are only for those crimes where a report has been reviewed
and classified as a Clery crime. If a Clery crime is not in the tally it means there
are no reports or statistics associated with it.
**This category is a subcategory of 'On Campus' property. The institution is required
to report statistics for incidents occuring in on-campus student housing facilities
as a subgroup of its on campus statistics.
Answer: C. Previous Calendar Year