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To the VCU and VCU Health Community,

This message provides important information related to requirements of The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, the Clery Act. The 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports for Virginia-based Virginia Commonwealth University campuses, including Monroe Park, Medical College of Virginia, Inova Fairfax, Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, Rice Rivers Center, and NoVA at Poplar Run are now available.

The 2024 editions are available here, or accessed directly by clicking here: 2024 VCU Annual Security and Fire Safety Report for all Virginia-based campuses. The report includes site-specific campus safety and security information including topics such as: campus law enforcement authority; crime reporting policies and options; campus alerts (Timely Warnings and Emergency Notifications); programs to prevent dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking; the procedures the university will follow when one of these crimes is reported; fire safety policies and procedures; and other matters of importance related to campus safety. The report also includes three years of statistics for Clery-specific crimes that were reported to have occurred on campus, including on-campus student housing facilities; within noncampus buildings or property owned or controlled by VCU; and on public property within or immediately adjacent to campus. It is important to remember that not all Clery incidents are ultimately verified as crimes, and one incident can result in multiple Clery statistics. In addition, the VCU Monroe Park report includes the Fire Safety Report which includes information about fire systems, fire safety, and three years of statistics regarding fires that occurred in on-campus student housing facilities.

The preparation of the VCU Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is coordinated by the Clery Compliance Administrator within the VCU Integrity and Compliance Office in collaboration with the VCU Police, the Health Promotion and Well-Being Center, Office of Human Resources, the Division of Student Affairs, Enterprise Marketing and Communications, Equity and Access Services, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, VCU Inova School of Pharmacy staff, VCU Rice Rivers Center staff, and Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center.

Last year, VCU discovered errors in its Clery crime statistics for 2022. We quickly reviewed the situation and corrected the errors, but we also hired an independent third-party expert to review our Clery processes more thoroughly. The expert consultant identified deficiencies in our process that required our immediate attention. Importantly, the third-party found that none of the errors were intentional. Over the past year, VCU has worked with the consultant to create and execute a plan to improve our processes which included a re-review of all reports for calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023.

As part of this effort, the responsibility for leading Clery compliance has moved to our Integrity and Compliance Office, in Audit and Compliance Services, and is being led by a newly created position, the Clery Compliance Administrator. This role is dedicated to improving our Clery compliance efforts and maintaining processes and best practices into the future.  This year’s report reflects changes in our 2021 and 2022 statistics resulting from this remediation work.  In the coming year, we will finish the job of implementing best practices to further strengthen our compliance with Clery Act requirements.

You may request a paper copy from the VCU Integrity and Compliance Office (918 West Franklin St.) or the VCU Police Department (413 Flint Ave.) during normal business hours. If you have questions pertaining to these reports or specifically about the Clery Act, please contact Chad Beights, VCU Clery Act Administrator, at 804-828-4924 or email at beightscm@vcu.edu. If you have questions pertaining to campus safety or specifically about the VCU Police Department, please contact VCU Police at 804-828-3907 or email at policedept@vcu.edu.