Clery Act Crime Definitions

Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter

The willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.

Manslaughter by Negligence

The killing of another person through gross negligence. (Gross negligence is the intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences as affecting the life or property of another.)

Sex Offenses

Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent.

Sex Offenses include:

1. Rape is the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
2. Fondling is the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
3. Incest is sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
4. Statutory Rape is sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.

Robbery

The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.

Aggravated Assault

An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm.

(It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could and probably would result in serious personal injury if the crime were successfully completed.)

Burglary

The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft.

(For reporting purposes, this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.)

Motor Vehicle Theft

The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.

(Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access even though the vehicles are later abandoned, including joyriding.)

Arson

Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.

Hate Crimes

A hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias. Bias is a preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their race, gender, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or national origin. Although there are many possible categories of bias, under Clery, only the following seven categories are reported:

1. Race. A preformed negative attitude toward a group of persons who possess common physical characteristics (e.g., color of skin, eyes, and/or hair; facial features, etc.) genetically transmitted by descent and heredity, which distinguish them as a distinct division of humankind (e.g., Asians, blacks, whites).
2. Gender. A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons because those persons are male or female.
3. Gender identity. A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender-related characteristics.
4. Religion. A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons who share the same religious beliefs regarding the origin and purpose of the universe and the existence or nonexistence of a supreme being (e.g., Catholics, Jews, Protestants, atheists).
5. Sexual orientation. A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their sexual attraction toward, and responsiveness to, members of their own sex or members of the opposite sex (e.g., gays, lesbians, heterosexuals).
6. National origin/Ethnicity. A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons of the same race or national origin who share common or similar traits, languages, customs and traditions (e.g., Arabs, Hispanics).
7. Disability. A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their physical or mental impairments/challenges, whether such disability is temporary or permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age or illness.

For Clery purposes, hate crimes include any previously listed as well as the following offenses if they include an element of bias/hate:

Larceny-Theft

The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another. Constructive possession is the condition in which a person does not have physical custody or possession, but is in a position to exercise dominion or control over a thing.

Simple Assault

An unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.

Intimidation

To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.

(To be the victim of intimidation, one does not have to be the intended target of the offender.)

Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property

To willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.

Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, & Stalking

The term “dating violence” means violence committed by a person—(a) who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and (b) where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the victim’s statement with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

The term “domestic violence” includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the State of New York, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the State of New York.

The term “stalking” means engaging in a course of conduct (two or more acts by which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates about a person or interferes with his or her property) directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to—(a) fear for his or her safety or the safety of others; or (b) suffer substantial emotional distress.

Law Violations

In addition to disclosing statistics for the aforementioned offenses, the Clery Act requires institutions to disclose arrests or referrals for College discipline for violations of state or local law in the following categories:

Weapons: Carrying, Possessing, Etc.

The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, concealment, or use of firearms, cutting instruments, explosives, incendiary devices or other deadly weapons. This classification encompasses weapons offenses that are regulatory in nature.

Drug Law Violations

The violation of laws prohibiting the production, distribution and/or use of certain controlled substances and the equipment or devices utilized in their preparation and/ or use. The unlawful cultivation, manufacture, distribution, sale, purchase, use, possession, transportation or importation of any controlled drug or narcotic substance. Arrests for violations of state and local laws, specifically those relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing and making of narcotic drugs.

Liquor Law Violations

The violation of state or local laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, or use of alcoholic beverages, not including driving under the influence and drunkenness.

Hazing

‘Hazing’ means any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a person (whether individually or in concert with other persons) against another person or persons regardless of the willingness of such other person or persons to participate, that—

1. is committed in the course of an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in, a student organization; and
2. causes or creates a risk, above the reasonable risk encountered in the course of participation in the institution of higher education or the organization (such as the physical preparation necessary for participation in an athletic team), of physical or psychological injury including—
   1. whipping, beating, striking, electronic shocking, placing of a harmful substance on someone’s body, or similar activity;
   2. causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a small space, extreme calisthenics, or other similar activity;
   3. causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing another person to consume food, liquid, alcohol, drugs, or other substances;
   4. causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing another person to perform sexual acts;
   5. any activity that places another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words or conduct;
   6. any activity against another person that includes a criminal violation of local, State, Tribal, or Federal law; and
   7. any activity that induces, causes, or requires another person to perform a duty or task that involves a criminal violation of local, State, Tribal, or Federal law.

‘Student Organization’ means an organization at an institution of higher education (such as a club, society, association, varsity or junior varsity athletic team, club sports team, fraternity, sorority, band, or student government) in which two or more of the members are students enrolled at the institution of higher education, whether or not the organization is established or recognized by the institution.