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A Campus Security Authority is a term used in the Clery Act to describe someone who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities. The regulations that govern the Clery Act (34 CFR 668.46) define a CSA as:

• A campus police department or a campus security department of an institution.
• Any individual or individuals who have responsibility for campus security but who do not constitute a campus police department or a campus security department (e.g., an individual who is responsible for monitoring the entrance into institutional property).
• 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.
• Campus professional and pastoral counselors are exempt from mandatory reporting requirements to safeguard the confidentiality of the counselor-client relationship. However, as a matter of policy, they are encouraged to inform individuals receiving counseling about procedures for voluntarily reporting crimes, which can be included in the annual crime statistics, when they deem it appropriate.
  • Professional counselor: A person whose official responsibilities include providing mental health counseling to members of the institution’s community and who is functioning within the scope of the counselor’s license or certification.
  • Pastoral counselor: A person who is associated with a religious order or denomination, is recognized by that religious order or denomination as someone who provides confidential counseling, and is functioning within the scope of that recognition as a pastoral counselor.

At ¸»¶þ´úÊÓƵapp University, position information helps identify which roles may qualify an individual as a Campus Security Authority (CSA). However, position details alone cannot capture every role with CSA responsibilities. Therefore, it is essential for individuals to review their own job responsibilities and ensure they comply with the necessary training and reporting requirements if their position meets the definition of a CSA.

CSAs receive annual notifications about crime reporting requirements and must review their training materials. Training materials can be accessed at the link below and take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

CSA Training

Campus Security Authorities (CSAs) are responsible for reporting any crime or emergency brought to their attention. Under the Clery Act, a crime is considered “reported” once it is disclosed to a CSA by a victim, witness, third party, or even the offender. If the information is shared in good faith (not mere rumor or hearsay), it must be reported, and in some cases may also require an immediate warning to the campus community.

1. Get the facts - when, what, where, who, etc.
2. You do not need to investigate the crime or incident reported to you.
3. Describe the incident/crime as completely and accurately as you can
4. Inform victims of their options, including confidential reporting and offer referrals to resources (e.g., campus assistance programs or counseling service, if appropriate)
5. If you are unsure whether the crime is reportable under the Clery Act, report the incident. University Police will determine whether the crime must be reported under Clery Act Regulations.
6. Print and complete the CSA Incident Reporting Form below and send it immediately to University Police by fax (410-543-6221) or email to UNIVERSITYPOLICE@salisbury.edu

Campus Security Authority Incident Reporting Form

Criminal Homicide

Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter is the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.  This offense includes any death caused by injuries received in a fight, argument, quarrel, assault, or the commission of a crime.  This offense does NOT include traffic fatalities, suicides, accidental deaths, or justifiable homicide as defined by law.

Manslaughter by negligence is the killing of another person through gross negligence. This offense includes any death caused by the gross negligence of another. This offense does NOT include death of persons due to their own negligence, accidental deaths not resulting from gross negligence, and traffic fatalities.

Aggravated Assault

Aggravated Assault is an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.  This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm.  Examples of Aggravated Assault include, but are not limited to, poisonings (including the use of date rape drugs), assault with disease (as in cases when the offender is aware that he or she is infected with a deadly disease and deliberately attempts to inflict the disease). If an attack results in broken bones, loss of consciousness or significant blood loss, or requires medical treatment or hospitalization, such as stitches or castings (regardless of whether the victim accepts such assistance), the incident must be classified as an Aggravated Assault.

Sexual Assault (Sex Offenses)

• Rape is the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus, with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. This offense includes the rape of both males and females.
• Fondling is the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
• Statutory Rape is sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. If force was used or threatened, or if the victim was incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or temporary or permanent mental impairment, the offense is Rape, not Statutory Rape. In Pennsylvania, children less than 13 years old cannot grant consent to sexual activity. Teens between the ages of 13 and 15 cannot consent to sexual activity with anyone who is four or more years older than them.  People ages 16 and older can legally consent to sexual activity, so long as the other person does not have authority over them as defined in Pennsylvania’s institutional sexual assault statute.
• Incest is sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.

Burglary

The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. For reporting purposes, this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or a felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.

Robbery

The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence, and/or by putting the victim in fear. The taking of personal property in the possession of another, from his/her immediate presence, and against his/her will, accomplished by means of force or fear (includes attempts).

Motor Vehicle Theft

Motor Vehicle Theft is the theft or attempted theft of any self-propelled motor vehicle that runs on a land surface and not on rails.  This offense includes all incidents where a vehicle is taken by person(s) not having lawful access, even if the vehicle is later abandoned, such as “joyriding.”  This offense does NOT include theft of farm equipment, bulldozers, airplanes, construction equipment, or watercraft.

Arson

Arson is any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.  Arson includes incidents where an individual willfully or maliciously burns his or her own property.  Accidental fires, such as a cooking fire, are not included in this offense.

Hate Crimes

A Hate Crime is a criminal offense that manifests evidence that the victim was intentionally selected because of the perpetrator’s bias against the victim. 

Hate Crimes Bias Categories

Under the Clery Act, the possible bias categories are Race, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender, Gender Identity, Ethnicity, National Origin, and Disability.

• Race: A preformed negative attitude toward a group of persons who possess common physical characteristics (e.g., color of skin, eyes, and/or hair; facial features, etc.), genetically transmitted by descent and heredity, which distinguishes them as a distinct division of humankind.
• Religion: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons who share the same religious beliefs regarding the origin and purpose of the universe and the existence or nonexistence of a supreme being.
• Sexual Orientation: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Sexual Orientation is the term for a person’s physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to members of the same and/or opposite sex.
• Gender: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender.
• Gender Identity: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender identity (e.g., bias against transgender or gender non-conforming individuals).
• Ethnicity: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, common culture, and/or ideology that stresses common ancestry. The concept of ethnicity differs from the closely related term “race” in that “race” refers to grouping based mostly upon biological criteria, while “ethnicity” also encompasses additional cultural factors.
• National Origin: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of people based on their actual or perceived country of birth.
• Disability: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their physical or mental impairments, whether such disability is temporary or permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age, or illness.

Hate Crimes – Offenses

For Clery purposes, Hate Crimes include any of the following offenses that are motivated by bias:

• Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter, Sexual Assault (Sex Offenses), Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson, Larceny-Theft, Simple Assault, Intimidation, Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property.

• Larceny (Theft), Simple Assault, Intimidation, and Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property are included in Clery Act statistics only if it is committed as hate crimes (motivated by the perpetrator’s bias against the victim based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, national origin, and/or disability).

• Larceny (Theft) is the unlawful taking, carrying, leading or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another. Constructive possession is the condition in which a person does not have physical custody or possession but is in a position to exercise dominion or control over a thing.

• Simple Assault is the unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.

• Intimidation is to unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack. This includes cyber-intimidation if the victim is threatened via electronic means while on campus, on public property immediately adjacent to campus, or on university-owned, leased, or controlled space that is not on campus.

• Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property is to willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.

VAWA Offenses

Dating Violence

Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim.  The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

• Dating Violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse.
• Dating Violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence.

Domestic Violence

A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by:

• a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim;
• a person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
• a person who is cohabiting with, or has cohabited with, the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
• a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred;
• any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.

Stalking

Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others, or suffer substantial emotional distress.

• Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person’s property.
• Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.
• Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or professional treatment or counseling.

Arrests and Referrals for Disciplinary Action

Under the Clery Act, institutions must report arrests and referrals for disciplinary action for liquor law violations, drug law violations, and illegal weapons possession.

• Arrest: Persons processed by arrest, citation or summons.
• Referred for disciplinary action: The referral of any person to any official who initiates a disciplinary action of which a record is established, and which may result in the imposition of a sanction. This includes only alleged violations of law, not violations of your institution’s policies.

Liquor Law Violations

Liquor Law Violations are defined as the violation of state or local laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession or use of alcoholic beverages, not including driving under the influence and drunkenness.  This offense does include, amongst other violations, underage possession, furnishing liquor to a minor or intemperate person, using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor, and any attempts to commit these offenses.

Drug Law Violations

Drug Law Violations are defined as the violation of laws prohibiting the production, distribution, and/or use of certain controlled substances and the equipment or devices utilized in their preparation and/or use.  The unlawful cultivation, manufacture, distribution, sale, purchase, use, possession, transportation, or importation of any controlled drug or narcotic substance.  Arrests for violations of state and local laws, specifically those relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs.  This offense includes illegally obtaining prescription drugs; however, it does NOT include use of legally obtained personal prescription drugs used by the owner in a manner that is not consistent with the instructions provided by the prescribing physician.

Weapon Law Violations

Weapon Law Violations are defined as the violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, concealment, or use of firearms, cutting instruments, explosives, incendiary devices, or other deadly weapons.  This classification encompasses weapons offenses that are regulatory in nature. 

Hazing

Signed into law on December 24, 2024 (and effective January 1, 2025), institutions of higher education are required to disclose hazing incidents under the Clery Act.

Hazing refers to any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a person (whether alone or with others) against another person or persons, regardless of whether the other person or persons are willing to participate. It includes acts (1) performed during an initiation into, affiliation with, or maintenance of membership in a student organization; and (2) that cause or pose a risk, beyond the usual risks encountered in higher education or organization activities (such as physical training for sports), of physical or psychological injury. This includes physical abuse, sleep deprivation, substance ingestion (food, liquids, drugs, etc.), sexual violence, intimidation, and criminal conduct.