Campus Security Authority (CSA) Information
As you may know, not all crime and criminal incidents are reported to law enforcement or their respective Campus Police Departments at institutions. Federal law, known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy & Campus Crime Statistics Act (or Clery Act) requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses (20 U.S.C. §1092). This data only includes reportable offenses required by the Clery Act.
CSA is a Clery Act specific term that refers to someone at an institution as a “Campus Security Authority”. Under the Clery Act, CSA is defined as an official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities. CSAs can be the first responder to a student, employee, vendor, or visitor who wants to report a crime. For this reason, the Clery Act requires all institutions to collect crime reports from a variety of individuals and organizations that are considered CSAs under the law. Therefore, CSA’s play a major role in data collection, as they are required to report allegations of Clery Act crimes and the number of incidents received to the BRCC Police Department. These numbers are then included in the College’s Annual Security Report, which is published and distributed to the BRCC Community by October 1st each year. This collaborative effort across campus ensures the College complies with federal law by disclosing all reportable offenses required by the Clery Act.
CSA Roles/Responsibilities
The role of a CSA under the Clery Act, is to report allegations of Clery Act crimes and the number of incidents to the BRCC Police Department reported to them in their capacity as a CSA. Under the Clery Act, a crime is “Reported” when it is brought to the attention of a CSA, the institution’s police department, or local law enforcement personnel by a victim, witness, other third party or even the offender. Even if the victim does not want to pursue action, CSAs are responsible for reporting such incidents they become aware of to the BRCC Police Department in their capacity as a CSA. Since crime and criminal incidents are often reported to non-security personnel on campus, the College must disclose statistics in their Annual Security Report concerning the occurrence of certain criminal offenses reported to Department of Public Safety or any official of the institution who is defined as a Campus Security Authority.
Who is a CSA?
To determine specifically which individuals or organizations are CSAs, BRCC considers the function of that individual or office. Whether or not the College pays an individual is not a factor in determining whether that individual is a CSA. A campus security authority is defined as an official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities. This can include, but not limited to, the director of athletics, team coaches, dean of students, student affairs staff, a faculty adviser to a student group, and campus security personnel. To be specific, federal law defines four categories:
- A campus police department and all personnel.
- Any individual or individuals who have responsibility for campus security but who do not constitute a campus police department or a campus security department.
- Any individual or organization specified in an institution’s statement of campus security policy as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offenses.
- An official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student discipline and campus judicial proceedings. An official is defined as any person who has the authority and the duty to take action or respond to particular issues on behalf of the institution. If such an official is a pastoral or professional counselor, the official is not considered a campus security authority when acting as a pastoral or professional counselor.
Training & Testing Campus Security Authorities
If an individual has been designated a CSA under the Jeanne Clery Act, they are required by law to receive annual training. Those who have been identified as a CSA receive an email from KnowBe4 (BRCC’s learning management system & training platform), which gives them access to the CSA Training Course. This short training video (10:53) educates them on their responsibilities as a CSA and legal requirement to report specific crimes, who are CSAs, and expands their knowledge on the Clery Act.
As CSAs review the video each year, they are required to answer a few questions and must review the entire presentation in order to receive a Certificate of Completion. The certificate of completion is valid until the training is updated. When the training is updated, CSAs are notified and will be required to take the new training. The online training course for CSAs is mandatory.
The Jeanne Clery Act: Working Together to Create Safer Campuses