Clery Requirements

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, requires that all colleges and universities disclose crimes that have occurred on their campus to the federal government. These records are available for public review. Failure to accurately report campus crimes results in censure and fines.

What We Report

We must file incident reports when it meets the following requirements:

  • the incident is reported to DPS, the local police (LAPD), or a campus security authority by a victim, witness, third party or even the offender
  • the incident occurs within USC’s Clery-designated geography
  • the officer or campus security authority believe the report was made in good faith (not rumor or hearsay)

Note: Under the Clery Act, crimes are reflected in the crime statistics in the year they are reported, whether or not they occurred in that year.

Reporting Boundaries

There’s an important distinction between USC’s patrol boundaries and Clery reporting boundaries.

Our patrol and response area ranges much further than Clery boundaries. In the interest of community safety, DPS monitors areas that aren’t owned by USC but where many students reside in public housing, and assists LAPD in patrolling surrounding neighborhoods 24 hours a day.

Clery reports only include areas owned and maintained by USC or public thoroughfares immediately adjacent to USC . For this reason, numbers in the Clery report may differ from the LAPD’s area crime reports.

Clery statistics include crime reports made at the following locations:

  • everywhere on our campuses (residences, offices, walkways, etc.)
  • property off campus owned by USC or a USC recognized student organization (such as Greek houses or USC office buildings)
  • sidewalks and streets immediately adjacent to USC’s campuses

For a clear picture of Clery boundaries, please refer to our Clery maps.

Clery Crime Definitions

Clery requires that we file crimes according to federal standards, terms and definitions. At times, crime titles may not correlate with California state standards.