Reporting a Crime | Policies | Adelphi University

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If you are the victim of a crime, including sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, you are encouraged to report the crime to public safety or the police. If you do not want to pursue action within the University system or the criminal justice system you may still want, and are encouraged, to consider making a private/confidential report.

Policy Statement

Reason for Policy

To provide a procedure for reporting a crime to public safety and / or the police.

Who Is Governed by this Policy

Faculty, Staff and Students

Policy

You may choose to report to law enforcement, you may choose to report to Public Safety, you may choose to report to a CSA, you may choose to report to Title IX, you may choose to report through our campus disciplinary process, you may report to all, or may choose to access none of these options. Adelphi University will protect your identity in publicly available information, such as within our annual security report or in warnings sent to the campus community.

There are people on and off campus who can support you in reporting to law enforcement if you choose to do so. You can contact Adelphi University Department of Public Safety. They can assist you in notifying law enforcement and can help connect you to other people and resources on our campus. Regardless of whether or not you report to the police, you can report to the University, if you so choose.

Reporting Procedures

Community members, students, faculty, staff, and visitors who may be a victim of a crime, observe a crime or a suspicious incident, an incident of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking, or if you see what you believe to be a security problem or other emergency on the Garden City campus, you are encouraged to notify the Department of Public Safety and Transportation immediately by dialing 5 or ext. 3511 from any in-house telephone, utilize any blue light emergency call box, pick up any red phone, contact any public safety officer or respond to the Public Safety Command Center located in Levermore Hall, Suite 113. To contact Public Safety via a cell phone, please call 516.877.3511. When calling, stay on the line until told to hang up and as accurately as possible, tell the dispatcher everything you can remember about the incident (e.g., sex of suspect, the suspect’s clothing, vehicle, direction of travel, etc.). The Adelphi community is encouraged to program the Public Safety telephone number into their phones in case of an emergency.

Below are contact instructions for reporting an incident if you are one of the Center locations.

Location	On Campus	Off Campus
Hauppauge Center	Call 631.300.4367 or 516.237.8605 or contact the public safety officer located in the lobby	Call 911
Manhattan Center	Call 212.965.8340 or contact the contract security officer located at the main entry to the Adelphi area on the second floor	Call 911
Hudson Valley Center	Call 845.471.3348 or contact the contract officer at the main entry to the Adelphi area located on the fourth floor	Call 911

One may choose to call 911 to report emergencies that require immediate response from police, fire, medical or other emergency units at any location. Be specific relative to your location. Specify that you are at Adelphi University with a specific building location (e.g., Blodgett Hall room 201).

While the Department of Public Safety and Transportation and its personnel are responsible for ensuring that our campuses remain as safe as possible, the primary responsibility for crime prevention and personal safety rests with each individual. Each of us must take personal responsibility for our own safety, as well as for the safety of those around us. Adelphi University encourages accurate and prompt reporting of all crimes to the campus public safety and the appropriate police agencies, when the victim of a crime elects to, or is unable to, make such a report.

Response to Reports

Professionally trained and licensed public safety officers accept written reports of any incidents that occur at all Adelphi locations (the Garden City campus and center locations). Copies of all reports are kept on file in the office of the Department of Public Safety and Transportation on the Garden City Campus and distributed to the appropriate people (departments) at each location. Follow-up investigations are performed and the local police department is notified when appropriate.

Public Safety Investigations

Investigations, by the Department of Public Safety, are conducted by the Associate Director of Administration and Investigations. Investigations are done on reports such as: civil, criminal and campus policy violations, aided cases, domestic issues, motor vehicle accidents and any incident the department determined that further investigation was prudent.

Complainants, witnesses, victims, and person(s) of interest are all subject to interview. Investigations often lead to contacting and working closely with departments within the university as well as law enforcement agencies, fire department personnel, and hospitals.

Reporting a Crime: Privacy vs. Confidentiality

If you are the victim of a crime, including sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, and do not want to pursue action within the University system or the criminal justice system you may still want, and are encouraged, to consider making a report. You can make a private or confidential report.

Private Reporting Options
All reports made to Adelphi University Department of Public Safety are received privately. A private report means that information about a violation or incident is shared with a limited circle of University employees who “need to know” in order to assist in the assessment, investigation, and resolution of the report. Formal reporting still affords privacy to the reporter, and only a small group of officials who need to know will be informed. Adelphi University offices and employees who cannot guarantee confidentiality, will maintain your privacy to the greatest extent possible. Private University resources include, but are not limited to, the Department of Public Safety, the Title IX Coordinator, Responsible Employees, & Campus Security Authorities (see Campus Security Authority section for more information). The circle of people with this knowledge will be kept as tight as possible to preserve a reporting party’s rights and privacy. Persons wanting to report a crime or incident can do so privately confidentially by contacting the Chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management of Public Safety and Transportation in the office located in Levermore Hall or by calling the Department of Public Safety at ext. 3500 and state they want to remain anonymous confidential. The reporting person’s name will be kept anonymous, but the incident may be included in the annual crime statistic report without divulging the person’s name or any other information that would infringe on his/her privacy. This is because all of the individuals listed above are required to report certain crime statistics to the Department of Public Safety for inclusion in the annual crime statistics.

In cases indicating pattern, predation, threat and/or violence, the University will be unable to honor a request for anonymity or a lack of consent to pursue an investigation because if these reported crimes are considered by Adelphi University to represent an ongoing or immediate threat to students and employees, the University will need to pursue action (i.e. investigation) to mitigate the threat and issue a timely warning or emergency notification to our community.

In cases where the victim requests anonymity, or does not consent to an investigation, any accommodations or protective measures provided to the victim, to the extent that maintaining such anonymity would not impair the ability of the University to provide accommodations or protective measures, will be maintained. When the victim of a crime elects to or is unable to make such a report, they are further encouraged to report crimes to any campus authority whereby the reporter will remain anonymous as requested, but the crime will be included as a statistic for the annual security report.

Any disclosure made in the course of institutional research, classroom discussions or writing assignments, or events such as Take Back the Night or speak-outs are not considered notice to the University unless the victim wishes a report to be made. Such information will be used to inform campus climate and educational efforts, generally.

Counselors and Confidential Crime Reporting

If a reporting party wishes for the details of an incident to remain confidential, the reporting party may speak with a confidential resource. A confidential resource means that information shared to the below resources will not disclose what you tell them to anyone else at the University or outside it. The only instances where information may be disclosed is when: (i) the individual gives written consent for its disclosure; (ii) there appears to be a risk of immediate harm to self or others; or (iii) the information concerns conduct involving suspected abuse or neglect of a minor under the age of 18.

The following classifications of individuals are Confidential Resources under University policy. Please note, however, that if you disclose information that you wish to remain confidential to para-professional staff, such as administrative assistants, they may be required by law to pass along the report to Public Safety as a Campus Security Authority or a Title IX Coordinator as a Responsible Employee.

Student Counseling Center

Health Services Center

Pastoral Counseling: Interfaith Center

Campus pastoral counselors and campus professional counselors, when acting as such, are not to be considered a campus security authority and are not required to report crimes for inclusion into the annual disclosure of crime statistics. Under the Clery Act, institutions are not required to provide a timely warning with respect to crimes reported to a pastoral or professional counselor. The University policy is one that encourages these counselors, when they deem appropriate, to inform persons being counseled of the procedures to report crimes on a voluntary confidential basis for inclusion into the annual disclosure of crime statistics.

Counselors are defined as:

Pastoral Counselor: An employee of an institution, who is associated with a religious order or denomination, recognized by that religious order or denomination as someone who provides confidential counseling and who is functioning within the scope of that recognition as a pastoral counselor.

Professional Counselor and Health Services Center Personnel: Employees of an institution whose official responsibilities include providing psychological counseling or health services to members of the institution’s community and who is functioning within the scope of his or her license or certification.

Definitions

Counselors are defined as:

Pastoral Counselor: An employee of an institution, who is associated with a religious order or denomination, recognized by that religious order or denomination as someone who provides confidential counseling and who is functioning within the scope of that recognition as a pastoral counselor.
Professional Counselor: Employees of an institution whose official responsibilities include providing psychological counseling to members of the institution’s community and who is functioning within the scope of his or her license or certification.

Privacy in this context means that information related to a disclosure or report of prohibited conduct will generally be shared only with those university employees who need to know the information in order to review, investigate, or resolve the report.

Confidentiality means that information shared will not be disclosed without the individual’s permission or as required by law. Disclosure may be legally required if the reported conduct poses a threat of serious harm to the Reporting Party or others, or if the reported conduct involves suspected abuse or neglect of a minor.