Dionte Berry
News Editor
[email protected]

Since the start of the semester, rape and harassment reports have been made to the Murray State Police, but the public has not been notified.

Halfway through the fall 2021 semester, there were  three rapes reported, all during  September.

Before the pandemic, students, faculty and staff received “Timely Warnings” in accordance with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1998, also known as the Clery Act.

According to cleryact.org, the Clery Act serves to ensure transparency between the public and public-private colleges by disclosing crime statistics and records. Murray State released its annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report on Sept. 27.

A part of the report was concerned with Timely Report Warnings.

According to the 2021 Campus Security Report, “In an effort to provide timely notice to the campus community in the event that a situation arises, either on or off campus, that in the judgment of the Chief of Police or his designee, constitutes a serious or continuing threat, a campus-wide ‘timely warning’ will be issued.”

Timely warnings give a description of the crime along with crime statistics, and information on how to report certain crimes.

One of the last Timely Warnings Murray State  received was in Feb. 2020. Murray State Police Chief Jeff Gentry said it is not that Timely Warnings have been forgotten, but there have not been any issues that would be designated as a timely warning.

The Timely Warnings only apply to incidents that are ongoing with an unidentified suspect.

“The Clery law is very complicated,” Gentry said. “We have to find out if it is an ongoing threat? Is the person known? Will the Timely Warning compromise the investigation?”

A lot of variables must be checked off the list for police to send a timely warning message.

According to the 2021 Campus Security Report, the following crimes can qualify for a timely warning:

• Homicide, murder and manslaughter
• Sexual offenses: rape, sexual harassment, incest and fondling
• Arson
• Robbery and Burglary
• Aggravated assault
• Motor vehicle theft

These incidents further qualify if, under the judgment of the police, there is an ongoing threat, but the following variables also are considered:

• Seriousness of the crime
• When and where the incident took place
• When it was reported
• Time between the incident and the report
• Relationship between the victim and the perpetrator
• Pattern or trends of the specific incidents
• Continued danger to the campus community
• Risk of compromising investigation

An incident would most likely not qualify for a timely warning if it falls under the following:

• An incident is filed more than 10 days after the incident
• A report is filed anonymously or by a third party
• Important information about the incident is not yet known
• The suspect is known or apprehended
• The report is not made in good faith
• The warning would compromise law enforcement efforts
• The report does not pose an ongoing threat

Although some crimes may not fit the list of standards to qualify for a timely warning, some students said the campus body should still be alerted  about serious crimes.

Senior TESOL major Abbey Avis said she wishes there was a way for more Timely Warning messages to be issued.

“I have a lot of friends that have had conversations where they’ve expressed concern of not getting those warnings anymore,” Avis said. “Just because, we know that stuff is happening on campus.”

Avis also sees it as an injustice to those who were victims, seeing as that they had to endure something traumatic and feel as though nothing is done to spread awareness or actions of prevention.

“I feel like it is an injustice to victims on campus to not talk about it,” Avis said. “I just feel like silence is never the right answer, and if we as a campus are not talking about it  I just feel like it looks really bad if we don’t, because that kind of almost to me, like I know it’s not their [the University] intention, but to me, it almost feels like we don’t care enough to talk about it.”

Junior English literature major Rachel Kidd said more needs to be done and there should be a shift in approach in keeping those on campus informed about crimes.

Kidd said the vagueness of the last Timely Warning was not very helpful, and it should not matter whether or not the person who committed the act is identified.

Despite her discontent with the rules for Timely Warnings, Kidd was still happy they provided some information.

“I appreciate it,” Kidd said. “I took the time and I looked at it [Timely Warning] just because this is my campus. I sometimes do walk at night by myself.”

As of late, under the jurisdiction of Murray State Police, there have not  been crimes that would qualify for Timely Warnings. But there is still the Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report for 2021 which was emailed to all faculty, staff and students. For reports on a monthly basis, there is crime data at http://www.murraystate.edu/crimelog/index.cfm.