The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to have emergency notification and evacuation procedures, issue timely warnings, maintain a crime and fire log, collect crime reports from campus security authorities, request crime statistics from local law enforcement, submit crime and fire statistics to the Department of Education, have a missing student notification procedure, and publish an annual security and fire safety report. This report contains three years’ worth of crime statistics, as well as certain policy statements including sexual assault and misconduct policies. More information about the Clery Act and its regulations can be found on the Clery Center for Security on Campus, Inc.
Like the Clery Act, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 requires colleges and universities that have on-campus housing to report and submit fire safety information and statistics, annually. This information includes the disclosure of fire safety policy and procedures, as well as fire statistics for on-campus housing facilities, from the previous three years.
2023 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
The preparation of the College’s annual report is a continual process. The information in this report is compiled by the Safety and Compliance Coordinator, with assistance from the Department of Campus Safety, the Office of Residential Life, and the Dean of Students’ Office. Statistical information is gathered from the Whittier Police Department, the Department of Campus Safety, the Dean of Students’ Office, and those individuals identified as Campus Security Authorities (CSAs). The policies and statements provided in this report are updated annually and include the most current information. The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is published by October 1 of each year and can be found above or by requesting a copy at the Department of Campus Safety office, located at 7022 Haverhill Park Road or by calling 562.907.4211.
The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to promptly and accurately report any crimes and emergencies to the College. Similar to mandated reporters and Title IX, the U.S. Department of Education defines a campus security authority as a campus police/security official or other official with significant responsibility for campus and student activities. For the purposes of meeting the requirements set forth in the act, all persons who are employed by the College will be classified as CSAs. The College requires that any CSA who becomes aware of a crime involving Whittier College, or a member of the Whittier College community, must immediately report the incident to the Department of Campus Safety. It shall be the responsibility of the Department of Campus Safety to investigate reports of criminal activity on campus.
It is an unfortunate fact that criminal incidents of all types occur on college campuses. Most colleges around the country investigate and make public the nature and frequency of crimes. Whittier College follows this practice and believes that reporting this information to the public increases community awareness about taking steps to prevent criminal activity. Records of Clery Act Campus Crime Statistics for the past few years are available for review online or in print at Campus Safety headquarters.
Special Crime Alerts: When circumstances warrant, crime alert flyers are distributed throughout the campus and posted on the department web site in a timely manner.
Communications Log: Campus Safety records and maintains a daily log of all department activity. The log is available upon request.
Crime Log & Media: Summaries of campus crime incidents are published in the Quaker Campus newspaper. Campus Safety also works in partnership with the Quaker Campus to publish information related to crime and campus safety issues.
Originally known as the "Campus Security Act", the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 USC § 1092(f)), also known as the "Clery Act", is the landmark federal law that requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses.To comply with the disclosure requirement regarding crime statistics, the Department of Campus Safety annually publishes crime statistics for the past three years of crimes mandated by the Act. Definitions were taken from the Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting (Department of Education, 2011).
The taking or attempting to take anything from value of 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.
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.
The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. An incident must meet three conditions to be classified as a Burglary:
A hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias. Bias is a preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their race, gender/gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation or ethnicity/national origin.
Hate crimes include all the crimes listed above if there is evidence that a victim was chosen based on a category of bias. The following crimes are also included:
In 2014, the United States Department of Education amended the Clery Act to include regulations for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). These regulations expand rights afforded to campus survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. In addition to reporting statements of policy and crime statistics regarding these categories, colleges and universities are required to provide description of prevention programs, procedures for response to reports, and procedures for disciplinary cases regarding these categories. The VAWA categories are defined below:
All of the crimes listed above must be reported annually to the U.S. Department of Education. Furthermore, statistics and daily crime logs of these crimes must be readily available to the public upon request. Campus Safety will immediately provide, upon request, a written log of crimes that have occurred on and around College property within at least 60 days of the request.
The Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act (CSCPA) of 2000, a federal law, requires institutions of higher education to provide the campus community with information on where they may obtain information on registered sex offenders in the state of California. It also requires sex offender registrants who are already required to register in the state to provide notice, as required under state law, to each institution of higher education for which the person is currently enrolled as a student, full- or part-time employee (with or without compensation), or those participating in a vocation (California Penal Code Section 290.009). As the Department of Campus Safety is not a law enforcement agency, the registration process must be conducted at the Whittier Police Department.
In the state of California, convicted sex offenders must register with their local law enforcement agencies. Megan's Law allows the public to access the registry. It also authorizes local law enforcement to notify the public about high-risk and serious sex offenders who reside in, are employed in, or frequent the community. Public information regarding sex offenders in California may be obtained by viewing *Megan's Law.
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2022 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
2021 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
2020 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report