About Security On Campus, Inc.

Jeanne Clery & the SOC Story

Major Legislative Accomplishments

Overview & Accomplishments

Security On Campus, Inc. (SOC) has made a dramatic and far reaching impact on college campus crime reporting, campus crime victim rights and prevention initiatives to reduce campus crime over the past twenty-one years.  Today, it remains the first and only nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of criminal violence at colleges and universities nationwide through educational, awareness, and policy initiatives.

At the core of efforts is the groundbreaking 1990 legislation originally known as the Campus Security Act. Renamed the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act in 1998, in memory of the 19 year-old student who was brutally murdered in her college dorm room, this federal law requires institutions of higher education to release campus crime statistics and security policies to their current and prospective students and employees.  Prior to this time, only 4 % of colleges publicized this information; today, over 6,000 institutions of postsecondary education report crime statistics annually and are held accountable by the U.S. Department of Education for doing so.  SOC’s website provides access to a comprehensive database of these crime statistics and other pertinent information.  SOC has many other Major Legislative Accomplishments.

Guided by the principle that crime awareness can prevent campus victimization, SOC has continued to advocate for more stringent campus security measures and has been the driving force behind several amendments to the Jeanne Clery Act.  Among the significant amendments was the Campus Sexual Assault Victims’ Bill of Rights, enacted in 1992. In 2000, SOC secured passage of legislation extending “Megan’s Law” notifications about registered sex offenders to the college environment. Through continuing bipartisanship support and the efforts of partners, in August 2008, Jeanne Clery Act Amendments were signed into law including better emergency response and notification planning, as well as additional refinements to better address campus safety challenges.

Recently released data by the Bureau of Justice Statistics supports the impact of these increased crime prevention activities (Special Report on Campus Law Enforcement, 2008).  The report showed a 9% decrease in violent crime on college campuses between 1994 and 2004.  While several factors have impacted these figures, the heightened awareness and tightening of campus security measures - fostered in large part by SOC - have certainly played a key role.   In his recent book, Protect Yourself at College, nationally recognized author Thomas M. Kane, President of the College Safety Zone, proclaims, “No other organization in the country has done more to reduce college campus crime.” SOC’s relentless advocacy for measures encouraging the sharing of crime information between campus and external police has resulted in safer practices among students, and is yet another example of the organization's far-reaching impact.

In addition to advocating for and establishing groundbreaking legislation reforming college campus security policy and practice, SOC has become the “go to” authority for both the general public, as well as institutional personnel regarding campus crime reporting, best practices for campus security protocol, and campus crime victim rights.  Fielding well over 600 inquiries from administrators, reporters, students and parents each year, SOCis highly regarded for its expertise and impact on campus safety reform. In September 2008, SOC received the prestigious Paul Chapman Foundation for Improvement of Justice Award for  “significant improvement of justice in America.”

The organization’s extensive website (averaging 15,000 hits from 1,400 individual visits daily), major media presence and ongoing campus outreach activities including its bipartisan Congressional resolution-supported annual National Campus Safety Awareness Month (held each September at over 350 campuses with plans for major expansion) has focused needed attention on these critical issues.  Likewise, SOC has successfully facilitated collaborative learning seminars with college administrative personnel regarding Clery Act issues through a series of comprehensive Clery Act Training Programs.  Funded by a 2005 Department of Justice Grant, these programs have reached over 1,600 administrative and law enforcement officials from nearly 400 institutions over the past 2 years.

More recently, SOC has taken its campus crime awareness building activities further by targeting college-bound high school students for a series of prevention education programs.  The Safe On Campus/Peer Education Program has reached well over 20,000 students in seven states during the past 3 ½ years.  Pre and post test surveys have consistently indicated that nine out of ten students have heightened awareness regarding the connection between alcohol use and campus crime issues following these programs.

Since its inception 21 years ago, SOC has drastically changed and positively impacted the legal landscape and public arena regarding campus security, crime reporting, crime victim’s rights and crime prevention.  In so doing, we have made the safety and security of our nation’s college students (over 15 million students per year) ---our nation’s treasure--- a top priority of our justice system as well as our institutional leaders.