Overview
Cape Cod Community College (CCCC) did not accurately report some statistics for Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) crimes that were allegedly committed within CCCC’s Clery geography during calendar years 2020 through 2022 to the US Department of Education (US DOE). In addition, we were unable to cross-reference the Clery Act crimes reported in CCCC’s 2023 annual security report (ASR) with the data in CCCC’s daily crime log and student disciplinary action log. This was because of discrepancies in how the crime categories are recorded in each system, which made a direct comparison impossible.
There was a total of 24 Clery Act crime categories listed on CCCC’s 2023 ASR. We inspected all 24 Clery Act crime categories and identified 9 with variances between what was reported in CCCC’s 2023 ASR and what was reported to US DOE. Of these 9 categories with variances, 6 had more crimes reported to US DOE than what was reflected in CCCC’s 2023 ASR, and 2 had fewer crimes reported to US DOE. For example, CCCC reported 4 rapes for calendar year 2022 in its 2023 ASR but reported 12 rapes to US DOE. Additionally, CCCC reported 1 motor vehicle theft for calendar year 2022 in its 2023 ASR, which was not reported to US DOE.
See the table below for a comparison of what CCCC reported in its 2023 ASR and to US DOE.
| Calendar Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clery Act Crime Category | Reported in 2023 ASR | Reported to US DOE | Reported in 2023 ASR | Reported to US DOE | Reported in 2023 ASR | Reported to US DOE |
| Sex Offenses / Violence Against Women Act Offense Rape | 1† | 1 | 4† | 4 | 4† | 12 |
| Fondling | 0 | 0 | 2† | 2 | 4† | 11 |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1† | 2 |
| Burglary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Domestic Violence (Violence Against Women Act Offense) | 0 | 0 | 1* | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dating Violence (Violence Against Women Act Offense) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3† | 8 |
| Stalking (Violence Against Women Act Offense) | 8† | 8 | 2‡ | 2 | 11† | 22 |
| Hate Crime (Intimidation, Bias—Race) | 1**† | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* This Domestic Violence (Violence Against Women Act Offense) incident was reported in CCCC’s 2023 ASR under the total column for calendar year 2021 but was not reported in the applicable location (the On Campus Non-Campus Public Property column).
** According to CCCC’s director of public safety, this Hate Crime (Intimidation, Bias—Race) was not a hate crime and should not have been reported.
† According to CCCC’s 2023 ASR, these crimes occurred in or on non-campus properties associated with CCCC, not on the main campus itself.
‡ According to CCCC’s 2023 ASR, one of these crimes occurred on campus and one occurred on non-campus property.
In addition to the above variances, we identified at least one disciplinary referral for drug use noted in CCCC’s student disciplinary action log that was not reported either in CCCC’s ASR or to US DOE.
If CCCC inaccurately reports its Clery Act crime statistics, then current and prospective students, CCCC employees, and members of the public may draw incorrect conclusions about campus safety. Additionally, not complying with the Clery Act’s ASR reporting requirements may result in CCCC having to pay fines to US DOE.
Authoritative Guidance
According to Section 668.46(c) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR),
- Crimes that must be reported and disclosed. An institution must report to the [US DOE] and disclose in its annual security report statistics for the three most recent calendar years concerning the number of each of the following crimes that occurred on or within its Clery geography and that are reported to local police agencies or to a campus security authority:
(i) Primary crimes, including . . .
(B) Sex offenses:
(1) Rape;
(2) Fondling . . .
(C) Robbery . . .
(E) Burglary.
(F) Motor vehicle theft . . .
(ii) Arrests and referrals for disciplinary actions, including—
(A) Arrests for liquor law violations, drug law violations, and illegal weapons possession . . .
(iii) Hate crimes, including—
(A) The number of each type of crime in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section that are determined to be hate crimes; and
(B) The number of the following crimes that are determined to be hate crimes:
(1) Larceny-theft.
(2) Simple assault.
(3) Intimidation.
(4) Destruction/damage/vandalism of property.
(iv) Dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. . . .
(2) All reported crimes must be recorded. . . .
(3) Crimes must be recorded by calendar year.
(i) An institution must record a crime statistic for the calendar year in which the crime was reported to local police agencies or to a campus security authority.
(ii) When recording crimes of stalking by calendar year, an institution must follow the requirements in paragraph (c)(6) of this section.
(4) Hate crimes must be recorded by category of bias. For each hate crime recorded under paragraph (c)(1)(iii) of this section, an institution must identify the category of bias that motivated the crime. For the purposes of this paragraph, the categories of bias include the victim’s actual or perceived—
(i) Race.
According to US DOE’s Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting, CCCC must “retain the annual security report and all supporting records used in compiling the report for three years.” This includes the supporting records from CCCC’s daily crime log, CCCC’s student disciplinary action log, and any other records that were used to report the Clery Act crime statistics in CCCC’s 2023 ASR.
Reasons for Issue
According to CCCC management, there was turnover in the position of chief of police and public safety during the audit period, which led to issues with accurate recordkeeping and reporting. The former chief of police and public safety was responsible for reporting CCCC’s Clery Act crime statistics in CCCC’s ASR and to US DOE accurately and in a timely manner. CCCC management also told us that the inconsistencies between what was reported in the ASR and what was reported to US DOE may be because of subjective interpretations of reporting requirements as it relates to Clery geography. Additionally, user interpretation, generalization, and poor supervisory oversight contributed to issues in identifying allegations of Clery Act–reportable crimes within CCCC’s daily crime log and CCCC’s student disciplinary action log as well as the proper reporting of these allegations in CCCC’s ASR and to US DOE.
CCCC management did not provide a reason why the former chief of police and public safety did not retain all the supporting documentation used to complete CCCC’s 2023 ASR.
Recommendation
CCCC must make certain that all Clery Act crimes that occur within its Clery geography are accurately recorded in CCCC’s daily crime log and its ASR by establishing policies and procedures to ensure that the following occur:
- cases are recorded accurately in CCCC’s daily crime log, and are also identified as Clery Act crimes where applicable;
- Clery Act crimes are accurately documented in CCCC’s disciplinary action records management system and reported to CCCC’s Department of Public Safety so that they can be properly investigated and included in CCCC’s ASR;
- a verification process is developed, documented, and implemented by CCCC that includes supervisory review and sign-off of the disciplinary action records on a regular basis;
- Clery Act crime data is accurately reported to US DOE; and
- as required by law, all supporting documentation for CCCC’s Clery Act crime statistics is retained by CCCC’s Department of Public Safety, including the daily crime log statistics, student disciplinary action log statistics, and any other records used to complete CCCC’s ASR for at least three years.
Auditee’s Response
Cape Cod Community College (the College) takes seriously its role in reporting crimes as required under federal and state laws, while acknowledging changes in those laws and ambiguities in reporting standards. The dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, implementation of the Massachusetts Police Officer Standards & Training (POST) reforms, and changes in leadership has resulted in changes and evolution of the College’s Public Safety/Police Department (Department) throughout the reporting period (Calendar years 2020, 2021 & 2022) to present day. Just as reporting standards evolve or become more fine-tuned, different persons doing the reporting may result in differences in interpretation as to counting or not counting certain events in reports. For example, student conduct issues which are not traditionally understood as crimes—especially when the result of a misunderstanding by a student and the mistaken over-reporting of an incident by a public safety officer—reasonably results in differences in emphasis, enlargement of statistics, and differences between Annual Security Report (ASR) and U.S. Department of Education (DOE) reporting which have since been corrected.
Presently, the College’s Chief of Police/Director of Public Safety is one of two sworn police officer positions and the sole administrator/manager for the Department. This level of staffing is commensurate with the low occurrence of crime on the College’s campus. The 2022 variation between the statistics reported in the ASR and those reported to DOE is, in part, related to recording redundant data from three sites which resulted in an overcount. In support of this it is significant to note that:
- The DOE Campus Security Survey requires users to identify Clery Geography within a “Yes” or “No” type framework.
- The DOE Campus Security Survey reports data in aggregate.
For example, if a College maintains two separate programs (Satellite Campus) on another institution’s property (Host Campus), and if each of those discrete programs meet the federal definition of a “campus,” then the crime statistics for the Host Campus must be assimilated by each Satellite Campus. While the ASR can explain that the crimes reported at each Satellite Campus actually occurred on the Host Campus, and that these crimes (for example two burglaries) are the same, the Campus Security Survey counts in the aggregate and reports four, instead of two, burglaries. The College has an affiliation with Bridgewater State University (BSU), and it is important for [the Office of the State Auditor (OSA)] to note the location of crime data, whether it occurred on the campus of BSU or the College’s West Barnstable campus. Indeed, in September 2024, the College consulted with DOE’s Clery HelpDesk to ensure it was reporting crimes correctly and based on that conversation, revised the College’s Clery geography. This explains why it appeared to OSA that there were 12 rapes as four rapes counted on the College’s individual site reports and counted in the aggregate when in fact there were a total of four rapes and none of these occurred at the College but rather at BSU.
The recommendations suggested in the preliminary report of OSA will allow the College to continue to make improvements to its ASR reporting process in addition to those reforms already instituted. CSA training has been one such measure. Much of the reporting that was subject of the audit of public safety cases was the tendency of report writers to classify events as “criminal” when they were not. This over-reporting of incidents resulted in skewing ASR reportable incidents. Going forward, such incident reporting will be forwarded and reviewed by the Chief for applicability to ASR and then entered into the College’s [case management system] that is the clearinghouse for all Department reports.
The [case management system] captures all reportable events for the Department; this includes crimes, emergency medical response, and other relevant incidents (e.g. property damage, accidents). The current Chief publishes a crime log which is inclusive of Clery crimes and other calls for service as identified above and is available to the public which meets the requirement of both the Clery Act and Code of Massachusetts Regulations for police department reporting.
In summary, the College views this audit finding as an aberration of the confluence of multiple circumstances and ambiguities in reporting standards rather than a pattern of conduct. Further, it is reasonable to infer that ambiguity in Clery geography related to the College campuses and to Host campuses contributed to the inconsistent [campus security survey] reporting detected by the OSA.
Auditor’s Reply
We acknowledge that the discrepancies in crime reporting may have been influenced by staffing changes and uncertainty around how to properly classify and count certain incidents—particularly those related to Clery geography and potential duplication across locations. We believe it is essential for CCCC to implement effective policies and procedures to ensure accurate and consistent reporting of crime statistics. We strongly encourage CCCC to fully implement our recommendations, as doing so will help ensure compliance and improve the reliability of CCCC’s crime data.
Based on its response, CCCC is taking measures to address our concerns regarding this matter. As part of our post-audit review process, we will follow up on this matter in approximately six months.
| Date published: | July 1, 2025 |
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