Clery Act Crime Definitions
Criminal Offenses
Criminal Homicide
Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter is the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. This offense includes any death caused by injuries received in a fight, argument, quarrel, assault, or the commission of a crime. This offense does NOT include traffic fatalities, suicides, accidental deaths, or justifiable homicide as defined by law.
Manslaughter by negligence is the killing of another person through gross negligence. This offense includes any death caused by the gross negligence of another. This offense does NOT include the death of persons due to their negligence, accidental deaths not resulting from gross negligence and traffic fatalities.
Aggravated Assault
An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Simple assaults are excluded.
Sexual Assault (Offenses)
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.
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 and/or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
Statutory Rape is sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. If force was used or threatened, or if the victim was incapable of giving consent because of their age or temporary or permanent mental impairment, this offense is Rape, not Statutory Rape. In Pennsylvania, children less than 13 years old cannot consent to sexual activity. Teens between the ages of 13 and 15 cannot consent to sexual activity with anyone who is four or more years older than them. People ages 16 and older can legally consent to sexual activity, so long as the other person does not have authority over them as defined in Pennsylvania's institutional sexual assault statute.
Incest is sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
Burglary
Burglary is the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. This includes all offenses that are classified by local law enforcement agencies as Burglary, as well as all offenses where force of any kind is used to unlawfully enter a structure for the purpose of committing a theft or felony; unlawful trespass of a structure with no force such as through an unlocked door or window for the purpose of committing a theft or felony; and attempted forcible entry where the totality of the facts indicate that a Burglary was in fact attempted. Examples of offenses that are NOT classified as Burglary include thefts from automobiles, shoplifting, thefts from areas of open access, and robbery.
Robbery
Robbery is 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. To be classified as Robbery, the offense must be committed in th presence of the victim; the victim must be directly confronted by the perpetrator; the victim must be threatened with force or put in fear that force will be used ; and the offense must involve a theft or larceny.
Motor Vehicle Theft
The theft or attempted theft of any self-propelled motor vehicle that runs on a land surface and not on rails. This offense includes all incidents where a vehicle is taken by person(s) not having lawful access even if the vehicle is later abandoned, such as "joyriding." This offense does not include theft of farm equipment, bulldozers, airplanes, construction equipment, or watercraft.
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. Note that only fires determined through investigation to have been willfully or maliciously set are classified as arsons. Arson is therefore the only Clery Act offense that must be investigated before it can be disclosed. If other Clery Act offenses were committed during the arson incident, the most serious is counted in addition to the arson.
HATE CRIMES
A Hate Crime is a criminal offense that manifests evidence that the victim was intentionally selected because of the perpetrator’s bias against the victim.
Hate Crimes Bias Categories
Under the Clery Act, the possible bias categories are Race, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender, Gender Identity, Ethnicity, National Origin, Disability.
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.
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.
Sexual Orientation
A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Sexual Orientation is the term for a person’s physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to members of the same and/or opposite sex.
Gender
A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender.
Gender Identity
A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender identity (e.g. bias against transgender or gender non-conforming individuals).
Ethnicity
A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, common culture and/or ideology that stresses common ancestry. The concept of ethnicity differs from the closely related term “race” in that “race” refers to grouping based mostly upon biological criteria, while “ethnicity” also encompasses additional cultural factors.
National Origin
A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of people based on their actual or perceived country of birth.
Disability
A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their physical or mental impairments, whether such disability is temporary or permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age or illness.
Hate Crimes - Offenses
For Clery purposes, Hate Crimes include any of the following offenses that are motivated by bias:
Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter, Sexual Assault, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson, Larceny-Theft, Simple Assault, Intimidation, Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property.
Larceny-Theft, Simple Assault, Intimidation, and Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property are Clery reportable only if they are committed as a hate crime (motivated by the perpetrator's bias against the victim on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, national origin, and/or disability).
The guidance on this issue is as follows:
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Report an offense if sufficient and objective facts are present to conclude that the offender's actions in whole or in part were motivated by bias.
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Do not report an offense unless there is enough evidence. Knowing the perpetrator is prejudiced is not enough.
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Do not report an offense based on the victim's perceptions. It is the perception of the perpetrator that classifies the offense as a hate crime.
Larceny (Theft) is the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.
Simple Assault is the unlawful physical attack by one person on 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 is to unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to an actual attack. Includes cyber-intimidation if the victim is threatened on Clery geography.
Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property is 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 the property.
VAWA Offenses
Violence Against Women Act (2013) Crimes
Dating Violence
Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’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.
Dating Violence includes, but is limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse.
Dating Violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence.
Domestic Violence
A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by:
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a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim;
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by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
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by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
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by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred;
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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 jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
Stalking
Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or suffer substantial emotional distress.
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A course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, or interferes with a person’s property.
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Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling.
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A reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.
Arrests and Referrals for Disciplinary Action
Under the Clery Act, institutions must report arrests and referrals for disciplinary action for liquor law violations, drug law violations, and illegal weapons possession.
Liquor Law Violations
Defined as the violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, or possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to a minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition.)
Weapon Law Violations
The violation of laws or ordinances dealing with weapon offenses, regulatory in nature, such as: the manufacture, sale, or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minors; aliens possessing deadly weapons; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
Drug Abuse Violations
Violations of State and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include Opium or Cocaine and their derivatives (Morphine, Heroin, Codeine); Marijuana; synthetic narcotics (Demerol, Methadone); and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (Barbiturates, Benzedrine).
