Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["McLay, Molly Margaret" <>]

Hi there,

Our university has a group of folks meeting from various campus units (police, student discipline, housing, public affairs, legal, and the women's center) to discuss how best to approach Clery-required timely crime alerts. The question of acquaintance sexual assault in these alerts has come up as of late, and we had some questions that we're each asking our respective listservs:

• Do you send out timely crime alerts for acquaintance sexual assaults?
• If not, what is the rationale/justification?
• If so...
  • How detailed are you with locations in the alerts? 
  • Do you use some type of caveat with the alert?  Example “This alert is being put out with limited information so as not to release any type of identifying information about the victim, but to be used as a tool to increase safety awareness and precautionary behavior” or something similar… 
  • Specifically if occurs in university housing, and several concerned parents begin calling housing administration to try to figure out which dorm it happened in, do you have housing refer back to your police department or unit that released the crime alerts, and then in turn would you have them FOIA the information?  

Feedback and best practices from other institutions would be most helpful. Thank you!

Molly M. McLay, MSW, LSW

Assistant Director

University of Illinois Women's Resources Center

Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations

2nd Floor, MC-302

703 S. Wright Street

Champaign, IL 61820

(p) 217-333-3137

(f) 217-244-3167

http://www.go.illinois.edu/wrc