A crime is reported to you. What do you do?
First and most importantly Is a violent situation in progress? Is there an imminent danger to the victim or others? Is it an emergency or a crime in progress? Is medical treatment needed for serious injury?
If so…… Contact JMU POLICE immediately at 540-568-6911 or if it happened in the City of Harrisonburg or Rockingham County, contact the Harrisonburg/ Rockingham Communications Center by dialing 911.
All crimes, suspicious activity, or emergencies that occur on the campus of James Madison University should be reported promptly to the James Madison University Police through the communications division for response and documentation and to assure incidents are assessed for potential ongoing threats to the University for evaluation for possible timely warning or emergency notification considerations.
If it is not an emergency, the CSA should ask the individual reporting the crime if they would like to report the incident to the JMU Police or the police in the jurisdiction the crime occurred. If they do, then the CSA should help coordinate reporting. If they do not want to contact the police they are not required in instances of sexual violence. You can offer help by providing information regarding on-campus programs for assisting victims of sexual and /or other forms of assault, procedures for seeking medical help, and counseling and psychological services if applicable. This information is available in the Notice of Complainant Rights.
The CSA should explain that they are a federally mandated crime reporter and are required to submit a crime report for statistical purposes and that the crime report can be submitted without identifying the crime reporting party and/or victim if the reporting party would like to remain anonymous. This, however, cannot be guaranteed. If a crime reporting party requests anonymity, this request must be honored to the extent permitted by law.
To report a Clery Act qualifying crime reported to them, CSA's can access and submit a CSA Crime Report form electronically or it can be emailed or faxed using an alternate CSA Crime Report form.
Campus Security Authorities (CSA), under the Clery Act, have an obligation to promptly report allegations of Clery Act-defined crimes which occurred on campus, on public property bordering campus, and in non-campus areas which the University leases or otherwise controls. If the CSA has firsthand knowledge/confirmation that the reporting party already filed a police report with JMU Police, then the CSA can complete and submit a CSA Crime Report Form indicating this on the Crime Report Form. However, if the reporting party says they will file a police report with JMU Police, but the CSA has no firsthand knowledge/confirmation that a police report was filed, then the CSA must complete and submit a Crime Report Form. When in doubt, a Report Form should be completed and submitted.
Student employees are directed to report all non-emergency Clery crimes to their supervisor for prompt submission to the Clery Compliance Officer
In addition, if a serious crime that may cause an ongoing threat to the James Madison University community is reported to anyone who is defined as a Campus Security Authority, that individual should immediately report the incident to the James Madison University Police Department. The institution has a responsibility to notify the campus community about any crimes which pose an ongoing threat to the community, and as such, Campus Security Authorities are obligated by law to report crimes to the James Madison University Police Department. If there is any question about whether an ongoing threat exists, contact the police department to discuss the matter further.
This information is used to issue a Timely Notice. A Timely Notice is issued in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) by the JMU Police Department. A Timely Notice is posted when a Clery Act crime is reported to the University Police and the crime is considered to be a serious or continuing threat to the campus community. These crimes must have occurred within those areas of the campus that are specifically defined in the Clery Act (on-campus property, non-campus property owned or controlled by the University, or public property bordering campus).
JMU is not required by law to issue a timely warning for off-campus crimes; however, incidents occurring off campus will be evaluated in conjunction with law enforcement of the off-campus jurisdiction on a case-by-case basis to determine if there is a crime that poses an ongoing or serious threat to the community. A community crime alert may be issued if the distribution of a crime alert is warranted so that students, faculty, and staff can be made aware of crimes that occur in the areas surrounding campus.
