Clery Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

“Campus security authority” is defined by the U.S. Department of Education in "The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting" as:

• A campus police department or a campus security department of an institution. If your institution has a campus police or security department, all individuals who work for that department are campus security authorities. A security department can be as small as one person. 
• Any individual or individuals who have responsibility for campus security but who do not constitute a campus police department or a campus security department (e.g. individuals responsible for monitoring the entrance into institutional property, event security, or student escorts).
•  Any individual or organization specified in an institution’s statement of campus security policy as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offenses. 
• An official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student discipline and campus judicial proceedings. An official is defined as any person who has the authority and the duty to take action or respond to particular issues on behalf of the institution.

CSAs are responsible for reporting allegations of Clery Act crimes that are reported to them in their capacity as a CSA. 

When a CSA receives crime information reportable under the Clery Act, they will submit a CSA report. CSAs simply report what they know. If a CSA is unsure if the incident is a Clery crime, if it happened on a Clery location, or if it was even a crime at all, they will still report the incident. The Clery office will decide the classification of the crime and how it should be categorized. The Clery office may contact the CSA for additional information if necessary.

The safety and well-being of the individual(s) affected by crime are the main concern. In addition to reporting, CSAs are expected to provide the affected person(s) with the Notice of Rights and Options and assist the victim in obtaining help if needed.

CSAs are required to report murder/non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, liquor law violations, drug abuse violations, and weapons violations (including carrying and possessing). 

CSAs are also required to report statistics for bias-related (hate) crimes for all of the above offenses in addition to larceny-theft, vandalism, intimidation, simple assault, and damage/destruction/vandalism of property.

These incidents should be reported on the Campus Security Authority Reporting Form.

For more information on these offenses and their definitions, see the Clery Crimes and Locations page.

Please visit the Clery Crimes and Locations page for information about UC Berkeley's Clery geography.

A CSA is not responsible for determining authoritatively whether a crime took place—that is the function of law enforcement personnel. A CSA should not try to apprehend the alleged perpetrator of the crime. That too is the responsibility of law enforcement. It is also not a CSA’s responsibility to try and convince a victim to contact law enforcement if the victim chooses not to do so.

Timely warnings are sent when Clery crimes reported to a campus security authority or local law enforcement pose a serious or ongoing threat to the campus community and only required for Clery crimes occurring within Clery geography that pose a serious or ongoing threat. 

Emergency notifications are sent when there is confirmation of an immediate threat to the health and safety of the campus community and for on-campus emergencies only.

Campus safety alerts are sent to warn people of emergencies, threats to safety, and significant disruptions. These alerts help raise safety awareness at the institution and in turn, make the campus safer.

Campus safety alerts are sent to warn people of emergencies, threats to safety, and significant disruptions. These alerts help raise safety awareness at the institution and in turn, make the campus safer.

You can optout of WarnMe/Nixle at: https://warnme.berkeley.edu

Please note that it can take up to 24 hours before a new account--or changes to an existing account--take effect.

In many cases, the campus is precluded from sharing all available information, including names. Doing so would either compromise an ongoing police investigation and/or violate the privacy rights of involved parties. We provide as much relevant information as possible to the public, where and when it’s appropriate to do so.

Campus safety alerts must withhold confidential information that would violate the privacy rights of involved parties and must also withhold any information that may compromise law enforcement efforts.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act ("the Clery Act") requires colleges and universities to disclose information regarding certain crimes that occur on or around the campus. The goal of the Clery Act is to provide students, prospective students, parents, and employees with accurate information about crimes on or near campus, and campus security procedures, to help ensure personal safety.

The United States Department of Education enforces compliance with the Clery Act. 

The Clery Compliance Office is responsible for gathering crime statistics from CSAs and other sources. The Clery Compliance Office publishes these statistics and information about campus safety policies and procedures in the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. 

Please contact clery@berkeley.edu for more information.