By PATRICK ARMSTRONG
Editor in Chief

Since The All State discovered that APSU had violated the federal Clery Act mandate regarding the attempted abduction on campus that was left out of the campus crime log for four weeks, TAS investigated the crime logs from this academic year to see if there were any other Clery Act violations. A total of 11 more were found.

These incidents are in violation is because they were not placed in the crime log within two business days of the incident being reported to campus Police, according to the Clery Act.

The following incident reports are in violation of the Clery Act:

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Monday, Oct. 5, 2009 not placed in the campus crime log until the Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 revision, when it should have been in the Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 revision.
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Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 not placed in the campus crime log until the Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 revision, when it should have been in the Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 revision.
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Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009 not placed in the campus crime log until the Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 revision, when it should have been in the Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 revision.
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Tuesday, Feb. 9, not placed in the campus crime log until the Friday, Feb. 26, revision, when it should have been in the Friday, Feb. 19, revision.
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Wednesday, Feb 10, not placed in the campus crime log until the Friday, Feb. 26, revision when it should have been in the Friday, Feb. 19, revision.
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Thursday, Feb. 11, not placed in the campus crime log until the Friday, Feb. 26, revision, when it should have been in the Friday, Feb. 19, revision.
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Friday, Feb. 12, not placed in the Campus crime log until the Friday, Feb. 26, revision, when it should have been in the Friday, Feb. 19, revision.
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Monday, March 1, not placed in the campus crime log until the Friday, March 19, revision, when it should have been in the Wednesday, March 10, revision.
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Friday, March 2, not placed in the campus crime log until the Friday, March 19, revision, when it should have been in the Wednesday, March 10, revision.
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Saturday, March 3, not placed in the campus crime log until the Friday, March 19, revision, when it should have been in the Wednesday, March 10, revision.
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Monday, March 5, not placed in the campus crime log until the Friday, March 19, revision, when it should have been in the Wednesday, March 10, revision.

Written complaints about violations of the Clery Act regarding disclosure obligations can be filed with the director of the Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Education.

By PATRICK ARMSTRONG
Editor In Chief

On Thursday, April 8, The All State’s Freedom of Information Act request letter, which was sent on Monday, March 22, regarding the attempted abduction on campus that occurred on Tuesday, March 16, was responded to via e-mail seven days late, according to Tennessee Code Annotated 10-7-503 (2)(B)(i-iii).

According to the requested police report, the attempted abduction happened on Tuesday, March 16, at 10 p.m. Campus Police was not notified of the incident until the complaint was telephoned in. On Wednesday, March 17, APSU Campus Police Officer Richard Wacker was assigned to the call.

The complaint came from an adult black female who said she was on her way from Meacham to her room in Sevier walking with her iPod ear buds in and her hands full. She was going eastbound on Govs Lane on the sidewalk near Miller.

“I was coming up the sidewalk next to the Red Barn and a black man driving a small, dark-colored four-door car pulled up next to me,” the complainant said in a written statement.

The offender was an unknown adult black male between 20 and 30 years old, 6” tall, of average build, wore a black hoodie and smelled like tobacco.

The victim could not remember any noticeable or identifying marks. When the offender drove up, he tried to get her attention by saying “aye.” She turned around and did not recognize him and then ignored him.

“He proceeded to continue to follow me and try to get my attention. I kept walking.” After three attempts, the offender pulled ahead of her, parked his car, got out and walked to the sidewalk, blocking her path.

“He grabbed me by my arm and tried to shove me into the car. I resisted and propped my foot against the back seat to use as leverage. We tussled for a minute. I threw my boot back behind me and it hit him. He took a couple steps back, paused, ran around, got in the car and drove away.”

The victim did not get a good look at the offender or the car. The car was described as a small, newer four-door sedan, black or dark blue in color, similar to a Honda or Toyota, with power locks and windows and leather interior. “It was very clean and had nothing distinguishing sitting out. That’s all I really remember,” the complainant’s statement said.

On Monday, March 22, APSU Campus Police Officer Elizabeth Genthner met with the complainant for a follow-up. The victim said the reason she waited to report the incident was because she was shocked but included she was frustrated because she could not provide more details. As of press time, Monday, April 12, the victim had not returned The All State’s phone call made Monday.

Each week, The All State prints the campus crime log and organizes the information online at www.theallstate.org.

Since the attempted abduction occurred, four revisions to the campus crime log have been given to The All State.

Of the four, there is no documentation of the attempted abduction that occurred on Tuesday, March 16. This puts APSU in violation of the Clery Act by 19 business days as of press time Monday, April 12.

According to The U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Violence Web site, www.higheredcenter.org/mandates/clery-act, the Clery Act “is a federal mandate requiring all institutions of higher education that participate in the federal student financial aid program to disclose information about crime on their campuses and in the surrounding communities.”

The Clery Act requires crimes be added to the campus crime log within two days of the initial report and add new information about previously recorded crimes be added to the campus crime log within two business days.

The U.S. Department of Education can impose fines up to $27,500 per violation. In extraordinary cases, the department can withhold all federal funds from a noncompliant school.

Written complaints about violations with the Clery Act regarding disclosure obligations can be filed with the director of the Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Education.

The Clery Act is named after Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University student who was raped and murdered in her residence hall in 1986.

Her parents’ lobbied Congress to enact the law because their daughter had not been notified about the 38 violent crimes that occurred on campus three years before the murder.

As of press time on Monday, April 12, neither Director of Public Safety Lantz Biles and Assistant Director of Public Safety Charlie Struckel had returned e-mails or phone calls made on Monday.

UPDATE (Tuesday, April 13, 7:45 a.m.): Director of Public Safety Lantz Biles responded to The All State’s. Biles said, “I have spoken with my staff and believe the omission was an oversight.The log will be updated.”

Patrick Armstrong | Editor in Chief

On Monday, March 22, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request letter was sent from The All State to Chief of Campus Police Lantz Biles in regards to the attempted abduction on campus that occurred on Tuesday, March 16. As of Thursday, April 8, it has been 14 business days and the report or a deny of the request in writing has not been sent to The All State from Richard Jackson, vice president of Legal Affairs and Strategic Planning and custodian of public records.

According to Tennessee Code Annotated 10-7-503 (2)(B)(i-iii), “The custodian of a public record or the custodian’s designee shall promptly make available for inspection any public record not specifically exempt from disclosure. In the event it is not practicable for the record to be promptly available for inspection, the custodian shall, within seven (7) business days: make the information available to the requestor; deny the request in writing or by completing a records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel. The response shall include the basis for the denial or furnish the requestor a completed records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel stating the time reasonably necessary to produce the record or information.”

According to Veronica Jackson, senior administrative assistant in Legal Affairs, Jackson is currently at the Tennessee Board of Regents Third Biennial Diversity Conference in Nashville, Tenn. The conference runs until Friday, April 9, and that the request will be processed Monday, April 12, which will be 16 business days from the date of the request. Jackson is the only person at APSU who can approve public record requests, according to Bill Persinger, executive director of Public Relations and Marketing. The code, however, does mention that a “custodian’s designee” can make public records request available. APSU does not currently have such a designee.

Persinger has contacted Jackson at the conference and said that by Friday, April 9, the report will be made available.

ADDITION (Thursday, April 8): Jackson has e-mailed the report to The All State at 5:05 p.m., four minutes after this story was published.

By Patrick Armstrong | Editor in Chief

The APSU crime log includes arrests and dispatch call-ins. As mandated by Tennessee law, the crime log is updated within 48 hours of an incident and available for public inspection any time during normal business hours.

Summer 2009 Crime Log Interactive Map

View Crime Log – Summer 2009 in a larger map

5:21 p.m., June 4, Dunn Center parking lot, theft of property
3:21 p.m., June. 8, Dunn Center, theft of property
4:32 p.m., June 9, Kimbrough, theft of property
11:40 a.m., June 22, MMC, vandalism
2:11 p.m., June 24, Foy Center, theft of property
10:50 a.m., June 26, Foy Center, theft of property
8:10 p.m., July 4, Meacham, burglary
12:05 p.m., July 6, Trahern, theft of property
1:50 p.m., July 7, Meacham, theft of property
12:28 p.m., July 10, Hand Village, theft of property
11:27 a.m., July 11, Meacham, theft of property
11:58 p.m., July 12, 240 West Ave., public intoxication, Rhonda G. McCormick, 1008 Meridan St., Nashville
5:19 p.m., July 17, Morgan Center, theft of property
8:03 a.m., July 19, Library, theft of property
12:48 a.m., July 21, Meacham, alcohol violation by a minor, Nicholas E. Keel, 311 N. College St., Lebanon
7:52 p.m., July 22, Emerald Hills, burglary
7:48 a.m., July 20, Meacham, vandalism
3:46 a.m., Aug. 3, Emerald Hills, driving under the influence
6:11 a.m., Aug. 4, McReynolds, theft of property
1:35 p.m., Aug. 7, Greek Village, vandalism
5:38 a.m., Aug. 8, Browning Drive, driving under the influence
7:25 p.m., Aug. 8, Greek Village, vandalism
1:57 a.m., Aug. 15, Robb Avenue and Marion Street, driving under the influence
5:12 p.m., Aug. 17, Henry and Marion Streets, theft of property
9:57 p.m., Aug. 19, 8th Street Lot, theft of property
2:07 p.m., Aug. 21, University Morgan Center, theft of property
5:12 p.m., Aug. 21, Burt Lot, theft of property
3:37 p.m., Aug. 22, Burt Lot, theft of property