DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COLLEGE PROCEDURES AND CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURES

A safe and secure campus depends on the cooperation and assistance of everyone—Baruch students and staff—to be aware of possible safety hazards and of the potential for crime on campus. Crime prevention and prompt reporting of unsafe conditions should be the objectives of every member of the Baruch community. Campus peace officers make Newman Vertical patrols in all Baruch buildings, and an officer is stationed in the lobby of each building. The officers carry portable radios to communicate with other officers and to summon aid if necessary.

Baruch's policy is that students and employees must report safety hazards, crimes, loss of property, illness, or injury. Proper reporting facilitates apprehension of criminals and assists in making Baruch safe. Incidents can be reported to any uniformed peace or security officer by calling or visiting the Office of Campus Security and Public Safety. A member of this office is in constant touch with the local precinct to monitor and record off-campus crime. A daily crime log is maintained in the public safety office that records by date any crime that occurred on or off campus within the patrol jurisdiction of the campus Public Safety Department and was reported to the department or the 13th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. Entries into the crime log must include the nature, date, time, and general location of each crime and the disposition of the complaint, if known. The College is further required to issue a timely warning to the College community when a crime that the institution considers to be a threat to students and employees is reported to a campus security authority or a local police agency. This warning and entry into the log must be made within two business days unless disclosing this information is prohibited by law or would jeopardize the confidentiality of the victim. The 1998 amendments to the Clery Act also permit an institution to withhold this information if release of the information would jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation or jeopardize the safety of an individual, cause a suspect to flee or evade detection, or result in the destruction of evidence. However, once the adverse effect of disclosing the crime information is no longer likely to occur, the institution must disclose the information.