Overview
The Director of Campus Safety or a designee will develop and send Timely Warning Notifications for the College to notify members of the community about serious
crimes against people that occur on campus, where it is determined that the incident may pose an ongoing threat to members of the Green River community. Decisions to disseminate a warning will be decided on a case-by-case basis in light of all the facts surrounding the crime and the continuing danger to the campus community. These warnings will be distributed if the incident is reported either to Campus Safety directly, or if it is reported indirectly through a campus security authority (CSA) or the local police department.

Purpose 
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the issuance of Timely Warning Notifications regarding crimes posing a serious or ongoing threat to the campus community. This policy complies with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) by establishing procedures for the college regarding the circumstances and delivery of warnings of serious or on-going threats.

General

What are Timely Warning Notifications?
Timely Warning Notifications are provided to notify students, faculty, and staff of certain crimes that may represent a serious or ongoing threat to the campus community and to heighten safety awareness. A Timely Warning Notifications also seeks information that may lead to the arrest and conviction of the offender when violent crimes against persons or substantial crimes against property have been reported.

When will Timely Warning Notifications be issued?
Green River will issue a Timely Warning Notification as soon as it determines there is a serious and ongoing threat to students or employees on campus and/or in the immediate campus community. The determination will be made based on the information that Campus Safety has available at the time.

What Department or individual is responsible for issuing the Timely Warning Notifications?
The Director of Campus Safety (or his/her designee) will initiate the steps for the Timely Warning Notification. Included in those steps are:

  1. Forwarding the proposed wording to the Executive Director of College Relations (or designee) to determine the message, along with
  2. Notification to the Vice President of Student Affairs.

Phrasing and wording of the warning will be confirmed between those departments, and then it will be sent out to via email distribution lists to the College Community.

What is included in Timely Warning Notifications?
Timely Warning Notifications include information about the crime that triggered the warning, but do not include personally identifiable information Green River College Administrative Policies Handbook about the victim of the crime. Timely Warning Notifications also include other available information that the college determines will help members of the campus community to protect themselves, ranging from descriptive information about suspects to tips on deterring theft. Thus, the amount and type of information presented in the warning will vary depending on the circumstances of the crime. If there is certain information that could compromise law enforcement efforts, it may be withheld from the Timely Warning Notification. An effort will always be made to distribute a warning as soon as pertinent information is available so that the warning is a preventive tool, not solely the description of the incident. A Timely Warning Notification will typically include the following, unless issuing any of this information would risk compromising law enforcement efforts:

  • Date and time or timeframe of the incident
  • A brief description of the incident
  • Information that will promote safety and potentially aid in the prevention of similar crimes (crime prevention or safety tips).
  • Suspect description(s) when deemed appropriate and if there is sufficient detail (see below)
  • Police agency/Campus Safety department contact information
  • Other information as deemed appropriate by the Director or his/her designee

The description of subjects in a case will only be included in the alert if there is a sufficient amount of detail to describe the individual. If the only known descriptors are
sex and race, that will not be included in the alert.

Timely Warning Notifications are made in response to the occurrence of crimes specified in the Clery Act.

What crimes are included in this policy?
This policy is focused on “Clery Act crimes,” which are:

  • murder and non-negligent manslaughter
  • sexual violence and other sex offenses, forcible or non-forcible, but not including sexual harassment or indecent exposure (sexual violence must be reported to
    the Title IX Coordinator) domestic violence and dating violence (if the alleged, suspected, or reported victim is a student, the incident likely also needs to be
    reported to the Title IX Coordinator; 
  • stalking (if the alleged, suspected, or reported victim is a student, the stalking incident likely also needs to be reported to the Title IX Coordinator)
  • robbery and burglary
  • aggravated assault
  • motor vehicle theft -including theft of motorized scooters, golf carts, motorized wheelchairs and the like
  • arson
  • “hate crimes” include: (i) any other crime involving bodily injury, or (ii) larceny, theft, simple assault, intimidation, and destruction/ damage/ vandalism of
    property, when motivated by the perpetrator's bias. Bias is defined as a negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their race, gender or
    gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or disability. 

    What are the procedures to send Timely Warning Notifications?
    Campus Safety will draft a notice containing the proposed Timely Warning Notifications and forward it via email to the Executive Director of College Relations or designee, and will also notify the Vice President of Student Affairs. College Relations and Campus Safety will review and revise the text as needed, and then transmit the email containing the Timely Warning Notification to the College community as a blast email, as well as posting the Timely Warning Notification on the Campus Safety Website Updates to the college community about any particular case resulting in a crime alert also may be distributed electronically via blast email or posted on the College website.

At the same time Campus Safety may also forward the email containing the proposed Timely Warning Notification to the Executive Team and to the President, for their review and possible distribution to Trustees, as they deem necessary and appropriate. Timely Warning Notifications may also be posted in campus buildings, when deemed necessary. In these instances, Campus Safety will send via email the specific posting or flyer to Building Captains to place in their respective buildings. When a Timely Warning Notification is posted in campus buildings, it shall be posted in the lobby/entrance area(s) of the affected building(s).

Campus Safety does not issue Timely Warning Notifications for the above listed crimes if:

  • Campus Safety department or police apprehends the subject(s) and the threat of imminent danger for members of the community have been mitigated by the
    apprehension.
  • If a report was not filed with Campus Safety or if Campus Safety was not notified of the crime in a manner that would allow the department to post a Timely
    Warning Notification for the community. A general guideline includes a report that is filed more than five days after the date of the alleged incident may not allow
    Campus Safety to post a Timely Warning Notification to the community. This type of situation will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

Timely Warning Notifications may be distributed for crimes (ex. a pattern of larcenies or vandalism cases) that do not rise to the level of causing a serious or continuing threat to the College community. In addition, they may be distributed for other safety concerns (mulch fires, etc.).

Campus Safety maintains a daily crime log which is normally updated each business day and contains all crimes reported to Campus Safety.

Specific Authority

The Clery Act of 1990

Law Implemented
The Clery Act of 1990, as amended and the United States Department of Education implementing regulation, 34 CFR Part 668 is a landmark federal law, originally known as the Campus Security Act, that requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose statistics about crime on and around their campuses and information about certain safety and security policies. For additional information please refer to: Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20USC § 1092(f)). The law is tied to an institution's participation in federal student financial aid programs and it applies to most public and private institutions of higher education. The Act is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education.

History of Policy or Procedure
Draft: February 22, 2016
Adopted: March 8, 2016
Revised: August 25, 2016
Reviewed by: President's Executive Team
Contact: George Frasier, Vice President for College Advancement Executive Director, ext. 3338
President's Staff Sponsor: Dr. Deborah Casey, Vice President of Student Affairs, ext. 3328