The purpose of this policy is to codify this department’s policy and procedures concerning the Timely Notifications/Crime Alerts issued by the Brookhaven College Police Department.
It is the policy of this department to issue Timely Notifications/Crime Alerts in effort to notify community members about certain crimes in and around our community. For the purposes of this policy, “timely manner” means within 30 minutes after an incident has been brought to the attention of a “campus security authority” as defined in the Clery Act. It is further the policy of this department to maintain compliance with applicable features of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act as mandated by the Department of Education.
The Chief of Police or his/her designee are responsible for consulting with department staff, local police department(s), and with other campus authorities (as deemed necessary) in making the determination on a case-by-case basis of when “timely Notification” information in the form of a Crime Alert is disseminated.
These alerts should be approved by the Chief of Police, in his/her absence the alerts will be approved and/or put out by the on duty police supervisor.
When a Crime Alert is issued, it is the responsibility of the issuing authority to cause immediate notification to the President and Vice President(s). The Vice President(s) are responsible for notifying other College Administrators as deemed necessary. Notification shall also be issued to the Farmers Branch Police Dispatch Center by the Dallas County Community College District’s Communications Center, if applicable.
In relation to the Clery Act, a two-prong test shall be applied to determine if a Crime Alert will be issued.
If the incident reported to the Brookhaven College Police Department or the local police agency:
Determining whether to issue a Crime Alert for non-Clery Act crimes shall be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account both the frequency of offense and likelihood for additional occurrence.
When Timely Notifications/Crime Alerts are issued, a corresponding Timely Notification Action Report shall be completed and filed in the Clery Annual Retention file with attached copies of the Crime Alert. With the exception of juvenile case reports, a copy of the associated incident report(s) shall also be attached.
With regard to juvenile case reports, a notation will be placed in the “Miscellaneous Comments / Information” section on the Crime Alert Action Report identifying the location of the related case report (i.e. juvenile records file cabinet).
When it is determined that a Timely Notifications/Crime Alert will not be issued, the Timely Notification Action Incident Report should be completed documenting why.
Timely Notifications/Crime Alerts Report will contain in the subject line the phrase “Timely Notification” or “Crime Alert” depending on the severity of the threat. The body of the Notification will include information regarding the Clery Act requirement; the corresponding College case number (IE. BHCPD Case Number: 2007-752); a short description of the crime or incident giving the time, date, location, reported offense, suspect description, weapon used (if any), and suspect vehicle (if any) and method of operation (MO) used to facilitate the crime. The Notification should also include personal safety information to aid members of the College community in protecting themselves from becoming victims of a similar crime and promote overall safety for our educational community.
Methods of dissemination may include, but are not limited to:
Following issuance, Timely Notifications/Crime Alerts should be posted in a conspicuous location within the Students Service Center for public review for a period of 30 days minimum. This posting should also be maintained on the College website for a period of no less than 30 days.
Status updates as to the resolution and/or un-founding of a crime where a Timely Notifications/Crime Alerts is issued will be disseminated and updated as soon as possible.
Reporting:
Members of the College community who know of a crime or other serious incident should report the incident to the Brookhaven College Police Department as soon as possible so the Police Department can determine is an alert should be issued.
Other Departments:
If members of the College Community report crimes or serious incidents to other campus authorities/administrators, those individuals will notify the Brookhaven College Police Department.