Statement on Compliance with Clery Act

SUNY Plattsburgh is committed to the safety and security of students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus.

It is important to note that the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) specifically applies to the reporting of campus crime statistics. In performing its audit, the Office of the New York State Comptroller did not seek to assess whether campuses in the SUNY system were safe.

The audit is helpful as it identified areas where improvements can be made in how to better comply with the complex act. In fact, the specific issue related to compliance at SUNY Plattsburgh had to do with how incidents were categorized and narrative sections of its Crime Statistics Report, not with the total number of incidents reported.

University Police at SUNY Plattsburgh take reporting of crime statistics seriously and strive for accuracy. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education released a 200 page handbook with guidelines advising campuses on how to best follow the precise requirements of the law and subsequent amendments to the law.

University Police and SUNY Plattsburgh officials are continually revisiting - and when necessary, revising - its policies regarding campus safety and emergency notification. In-depth reports on SUNY Plattsburgh crime statistics and campus security policies can be found online at https://www.plattsburgh.edu/plattslife/health-safety/university-police/statistics-and-resources.html.

SUNY Plattsburgh regularly assesses campus safety and security. Last year, the college was among the first of the SUNY campuses to implement SUNY Alert, a high-tech system that can send emergency messages to students, faculty and staff via text, e-mail and phone messages. A test of its emergency notification systems was conducted in the last month. In addition, college officials coordinated a fire safety training day to help raise student awareness about the dangers of fire and ways to reduce risk.