In a nationwide effort to improve campus safety and transparency, the United States Congress in 1990 signed an act into federal law that is now known as the Clery Act. The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that receive federal funding to maintain records of crimes that occur on, in, or adjacent to campus, and to make these records readily available to the public. The Clery Act was named after Jeanne Clery, a freshman at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, who was raped and murdered in her dorm room in 1986. Jeanne’s parents believed that if Jeanne had been aware of Lehigh University’s crime rate, which was recorded but not disclosed at the time, she would not have attended.   

Colleges and universities that fall under the Clery Act, which includes Western Technical College, compile daily crime and fire logs as well as annual campus security reports, both of which are available on Western’s Campus Community Safety website. The Clery Act also requires colleges and universities to provide timely warnings of crimes that threaten the safety of students and staff. Western utilizes the Rave Alert notification system by Rave Mobile Safety to deliver these warnings. Western’s Daily Crime and Fire Log can be accessed via the banner above. Each entry includes the date, time, nature of the incident, location, and disposition. For a more detailed explanation of dispositions, see the list below. For any questions regarding Western’s Daily Crime and Fire Log, please contact The Director of Campus Community Safety (Chris Schuster) or the Campus Community Safety Coordinator (Grant Mathu). 

Glossary of Dispositions

• Cleared by Arrest – A suspect has been charged and referred to a court for prosecution.  
• Cleared by Citation – A citation has or will be issued.  
• Cleared by Exception – Investigation has identified an offender, but prosecution is not possible due to victim not cooperating or DA refuses charges.   
• Active – Case is being actively investigated. 
• Inactive – A suspect has not been arrested or cited and the case is not being actively investigated at this time, there are no new leads or evidence to continue investigating. 
• Disciplinary Referral – A crime that has not been reported to law enforcement but has been referred to the Dean of Students or another University office for adjudication. 
• Unfounded – Criminal allegation was found to be false or baseless after the completion of a police investigation.