Do you conduct Clery Act training every year? You should be. The training should be an integral part of your campus security efforts. Not just because the law demands it. More so because students are shy to approach police for reporting crimes. Although, the same students find it easier to approach a campus security Authority and report the crime. For such reasons, training students and employees on the Clery Act is essential.
The Importance of Clery Act Training
Firstly, students and new employees should know which crimes are reportable under the Clery Act. Secondly, they need to become aware of the procedure for reporting crime. And thirdly, but most importantly, the training would help develop their trust on your policy of keeping reporters’ identity confidential.
Unless students become aware of such information, they may not report crimes that they witness. It’s possible. For various reasons, such as shame or public ridicule, students may choose to stay quiet; for instance, about 80% of female student victims of sexual crimes never report the incident.
The Clery Act training can act as a springboard for convincing students to come ahead and report crimes.
While training employees on the Clery Act can help them guide students who approach them for help. For instance, if a student approaches his faculty for advice, the person can guide the student to a campus security authority for reporting the incident, or the faculty can himself contact the CSA, and report the incident.
In a nutshell, Clery Act training can help the campus security receive complaints that otherwise go unreported.
That said, making students aware of how to report a crime should be the only purpose of your Clery Act training. The Act covers much more ground than publishing crime statistics. Before we proceed ahead, let’s explore what else the Clery Act requires from colleges.
- Issue crime alerts and emergency notifications
- Publish an annual security report
- Disclose how the college handles cases of missing students
- Share how the institutional disciplinary proceedings work
- Keep a daily crime log
- Disclose fire statistics and safety practices
- Educate and train everyone on topics of campus security
[Also Read: Why is Campus Safety so Important in Educational Institutions]
What is Clery Act training?
Your Clery Act training program should give a basic idea of the above topics. This list also suggests that colleges need to put in place programs for educating the campus community about campus safety. So, which programs should your training cover?
Firstly, colleges need to put in place training against sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and domestic violence. This should include, both primary prevention and awareness training. The training needs to cover initiatives and strategies for preventing violence, promoting safety and reducing the chances of such crimes from occurring on campus.
Secondly, you need to train everyone on bystander intervention and risk reduction techniques.
Thirdly, and most importantly, you need to train your campus security authorities and the staff that handles complaints of sexual violence.
To clarify, the Clery Act does not address the issue of CSA training directly. But, as their role is vital for complying with the Clery Act, you should focus on the training of your CSAs.
But, what topics should the training concentrate upon?
Content to include in your Clery Act training
Firstly, the training should concentrate upon communication skills. Without such skills, they might fail to convince the reporter to disclose details of the criminal incident. Secondly, the training should help the CSAs deduct how severe a reported incident is. For instance, in case of an active shooter, timely reports from a CSA might help the campus police to prevent casualties.
Thirdly, they should get trained on filling up the incident details on the crime report form. Specifically, the training should teach them how the crime should be classified. If the CSA isn’t a member of the campus police, then he or she would need an in-depth training for the purpose.
A similar training would be required to help them pin-point the Clery geography in their reports. Of course, the training would need to cover several more topics, such as keeping the victim details confidential and offering suitable support services.
On the subject of training the staff that handles complaints related to sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and similar allegations, you should consider training them as well.
As per the law, the staff conducting hearing for such allegations need to receive training on issues related to sexual violence. Along with that, they need to learn about investigating complaints and the hearing process too; specifically, techniques for questioning witnesses, avoiding conflicts, procedural rules, and so on.
In Conclusion
A word of caution, the topics listed above cover just a few topics that you need to cover in your Clery Act training program. Though important, they aren’t the only points. To clarify, the bystander intervention and risk reduction program needs to cover techniques for interfering safely as well. Additionally, the program should train the learners to recognize when it’s safe to intervene, and how to empower the victim.
In addition, you need to conduct various primary prevention and awareness programs too. We didn’t cover them either. Such programs would include training on alcohol and drug abuse, hate crimes, sexual assault, and so on.
On a similar note, the Clery Act training cannot be a one-time activity. You’d need to conduct these programs on an ongoing basis. Incoming and current students should receive training of a similar standard. This applies to employee training as well. However, the ongoing programs should focus on increasing the understanding and skill level of the learners. You may need to use several strategies for the purpose.
Sometimes, campus officials focus on holding Clery Act awareness sessions only. But, that might not work. Whether it’s Title IX training, VAWA, or the Clery Act training, they are a part of your campus security efforts. The same is true for primary prevention and awareness training programs. Altogether, they form a single training program necessary for ensuring the safety of your campus and students.
Do you work for campus security? How valuable do you believe student and employee training is for securing your campus? Do share your views on campus safety and training with our readers.
