Each fall universities across the country release their Annual Safety and Security Report. It details crime statistics and occurrences for previous years, and any school that participates in federal Title IV student financial assistance programs is required to release their report to the public.

This security report, coupled with consistent crime log updates and campus crime alerts, makes up a body of law known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

Where does that obnoxiously long title come from?

Commonly known as the Clery Act, the law was originally enacted in 1990 as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990. It was an amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965, but was renamed in 1998 after a first-year student named Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered in her dorm room at Lehigh University.

The U.S. Department of Education requires each school participating in federal financial assistance programs to comply with the Clery Act and clearly outlines their expectations and requirements online and in their Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting.

What are the requirements?

In order to comply with the law, universities must adhere to requirements that fall under three specific categories, according to the U.S. Department of Education. These categories include:

• Clery crime statistics and security-related policies.
• A Clery crime log requirement for institutions with a campus security or police department.
• Missing student notifications and fire safety requirements for any university with at least one student-housing unit.

“It’s a requirement to post crimes online in (our) crime logs,” said University Police Chief Bob Pastula. “I usually have (the crime reports) listed every 48 hours.”

Does the Lion Alert system somehow fit into all of this?

Part of the Clery Act also requires timely notices or alerts when campus safety is threatened or compromised, according to the Handbook for Campus Safety and Security reporting.

The university’s alert system is more commonly known as Lion Alerts. It issues automatic text messages and emails to campus community members once administrators determine there is an ongoing threat toward safety or security.

Lion Alerts are issued about each Clery-related crime on campus, but Pastula said his department does not stop at just campus crimes.

“It’s not necessarily just crimes on campus,” he said. “Anything (in the Shoals community) that poses a threat (to campus) is something we notify students about.”

Transfer student Emily McCoy said she was not aware of the university’s Lion Alert system.

“I think (the system) is smart — it lets people stay in the know,” she said. “I definitely don’t see anything wrong with letting people know what’s going on, on campus.”

What does UNA’s annual safety report look like?

“In accordance with federal regulations of the Campus Security Act, the University of North Alabama publishes both crime statistics for the three most recent calendar years and UNA security-related policies and procedures,” reads one of the opening lines of the university’s 2013 report.

The 36-page report outlines the university’s stance on dealing with any number of crimes, including safety and access to campus facilities, arrest powers, prompt and accurate reporting of crimes and drug or substance-abuse education initiatives, to name a few.

The crime report portion of the document breaks down criminal incidents by type, year, on or off-campus location, public property and hate crimes.

University officials do a good job of notifying the campus about safety and security concerns, said sophomore Heath Newton.

“It’s pretty well-organized,” he said. “You’re usually notified pretty quickly about anything that happens.”

The university also submits a fire safety report and the annual residential fire statistics to the U.S. Department of Education.