26 drug offenses, 23 liquor offenses and no weapon offenses – these are some of the on-campus disciplinary actions detailed in the Clery Report.
Every year, Albion College, along with other institutions, releases a Clery Report. According to the Clery Center, “the Clery Act requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data, support victims of violence and publicly outline the policies and procedures they have put into place to improve campus safety.”
The 2023 Annual Security Report
In a campus-wide email sent by Director of Campus Safety Dave Leib on Sept. 30, more details about the Clery Report were explained. The report, in addition to containing campus procedures, “also includes crime statistics from the past three calendar years for specific geographic areas, as defined by federal law.”
Leib said that the report this year was “pretty straightforward.”
“One of my key takeaways from the report is that it’s fairly consistent with previous years,” Leib said. “There weren’t any real numbers in any one category that stood out compared to previous years – some slight deviations, but nothing real major.”
One section of the Clery Report included disciplinary actions on-campus and in residential buildings. In 2023, there were four less drug offenses recorded in comparison to 2022. However, in the on-campus section, four more liquor offenses were reported in 2023 versus 2022.
The report also included statistics on criminal offenses in residential buildings in the last three years including rape, aggravated assault and domestic crimes.
Security Updates on Campus
Regarding security on campus, Leib said Campus Safety has plans to add more cameras around campus “covering a bit more of the common areas and things, where we’d typically find people who aren’t part of the campus community.”
According to Leib, Campus Safety and IT received a grant, giving them funding for 32 new cameras to “deploy around Seaton and Whitehouse, which only had cameras on exterior doors before now.”
Leib also said that whenever a parking lot is redone, it’s outfitted with infrastructure that supports cameras.
The 2023 Annual Fire Safety Report
In addition to the Clery Report, Campus Safety sent the Annual Fire Safety Report in the same email. According to the document, the Higher Education Opportunity Act requires colleges “to annually disclose certain information regarding fires and fire safety in residential buildings.”
Regarding fire safety, Leib noted that students should not plug multiple high-power appliances into power strips at once.
In scenarios like this, Leib added that the current student population at Albion helps Campus Safety out “quite a bit.”
“We have a lot of students on campus that aren’t afraid to reach out to us when something doesn’t look right, and that’s always a plus is having students that rely on their intuition,” Leib said.
If students, staff or faculty have non-pressing questions, Leib recommends students check the Campus Safety website, which includes the annual Clery and Fire Safety Reports.
“We spend a lot of time making sure our website is up to date, and unfortunately it’s not used as much as we wish it was,” Leib said. “It would help people out a lot when they have a question at midnight and there’s not somebody here that can help with a policy question.”
However, Leib said that if students notice any suspicious activity on campus, “the quickest and easiest way to get a hold of us is to call, and that way we can allocate some resources to go check out whatever the issue is.”
Campus Safety can be reached by their non-emergency number at 517-629-0213, or their emergency number at 517-629-1234.
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