By Linh Tat
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The U.S. Department of Education is reviewing allegations that
some California universities underreport crimes on their
campuses.
The announcement came after a national campus security group
filed complaints that schools in the University of California and
California State University systems are withholding numbers in
their annual crime reports.
S. Daniel Carter, vice president of Security on Campus, Inc.,
the organization that filed the complaint, said though the
department is reviewing UCs and CSUs, they are not the only ones
underreporting crimes.
“This is certainly nothing unique to the UC system.
It’s probably the rule rather than the exception by and
large,” he said.
UC officials say they reported the statistics accurately to the
best of their knowledge, and that they intend to cooperate with the
Department of Education in the review.
“We want to make absolutely sure that we are in full
compliance with the law,” said UC spokesman Brad Hayward.
The complaint was prompted by articles in the Sacramento Bee
last month alleging that two-thirds of UC campuses did not include
in crime statistics sexual assaults reported to university
officials other than police.
The articles found that three times as many sex offenses
occurred than were reported by the UC.
In addition, crimes were allegedly miscategorized in some cases.
For example, UC Riverside police don’t recognize male rape
victims, and UC San Diego accounts for sexual assaults under the
heading “physical abuse,” according to the article.
Nancy Greenstein, director of police community services at UCLA,
said compiling crime reports for the school is more difficult
because of its urban location.
Sometimes, campus crimes are reported to the Los Angeles Police
Department or agencies other than the UC Police Department,
Greenstein said. Though her department attempts to include these
incidents in the university’s report, not all may be
accounted for.
“For schools like us, it’s pretty complicated
because we deal with so many entities,” she said.
In 1990, President George Bush signed the Crime Awareness and
Campus Security Bill, requiring all institutions of higher
education receiving federal student aid to report crime statistics.
In 1998, Congress amended the requirements and renamed it the
Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime
Statistics Act.
The Clery Act requires that universities include reports made to
the dean of students, athletic directors or other university
officials. This year, for the first time, colleges must submit
their reports to the Department of Education.
Hayward acknowledged that universities face difficulty in
reporting their statistics.
“It’s a confusing law and the implementation of this
law has been a challenge for universities across the country for
years,” he said.
The current review by the Department of Education of the UC and
CSU is the largest the department has ever conducted regarding
campus crimes.
“It is the first time that we have received complaints
about several campuses within a system,” said Jane Glickman,
spokeswoman for the Department of Education. “All our other
complaints in the past have been about specific
campuses.”
The department is working through its San Francisco regional
office to review the reports. So far, it has contacted the UC by
phone and letters, Glickman said.
Neither officials from the Department of Education or the UC
system would comment on possible outcomes of the review, saying it
is premature to guess. But the department may issue a $25,000 fine
to universities not complying with the law.
Glickman said the department will likely not issue fines, noting
that only one school has ever had to pay the fee.
“Our main goal is to get the schools to comply with the
law. Our goal is not to punish or fine,” she said.
Hayward said the university hopes to identify strengths and
weaknesses of its current reporting practices through the
Department of Education’s review.
“We are hoping this process helps clarify the rules for
the higher educational institutions across the country,” he
said.
In addition to filing the complaint against California
universities, Security on Campus, Inc. is calling for the
government to create a uniform complaint procedure and to better
monitor all schools.
“We propose that schools be randomly audited, several a
year, so that irrespective of whether a complaint has been filed,
every school stands the chance of having their reports
reviewed,” Carter said.
 CRIME STATISTICS FOR UCLA The Clery Act
requires that universities make their annual crime reports
available to the public. This year, for the first time,
universities must submit their reports to the federal government.
Total Crimes Reported For UCLA Campus  Reported to UCPD
Reported to other sources* Â Offense Type Res.* Other Res.
Other Total Murder/non-negligent homicide 0 0 0 0 0 Negligent
manslaughter 0 0 0 0 0 Forcible sex offenses 2 8 0 22 32
Non-forcible sex offenses 1 3 1 0 4 Arson 0 1 0 0 1 Robbery 1 3 0 0
4 Aggravated assault 1 10 0 0 11 Burglary 22 136 0 0 158 Motor
vehicle theft 6 44 0 0 50 Hate crimes 1 5 0 0 6 *Res. = occurred in
residence halls *Example of other sources = Dean of Students,
Resident advisors and athletic directors SOURCE: UCPD Original
graphic by MAGGIE WOO Web adaptation by ROBERT LIU/Daily Bruin
Senior Staff