Clery Crime Definitions

Under the Clery Act, there are several crimes for which the University of Louisiana at Lafayette shall maintain and publish statistics. For further information related to the crime definitions, as well as examples of those which shall be reported, please see Chapter 3 of The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting.

Criminal Offenses

Also known as Group A Offenses.

• Murder: The willful (non-negligent) killing of a human being by another. NOTE: Deaths caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill, suicides, accidental deaths, and justifiable homicides are excluded.
• Manslaughter: the killing of another person through gross negligence. Gross negligence is the intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences as affecting the life or property of another.
• Sex Offenses: Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent.
• Rape: 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.
• Fondling: 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 incapacity.
• Incest: Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
• Statutory Rape: Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.
• Robbery: The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
• Aggravated Assault: An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife or other weapon is used which could or probably would result in a serious potential injury if the crime were successfully completed.
• Burglary: The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a 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.
• Motor Vehicle Theft: the theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access, even though the vehicles are later abandoned - including joy riding) Arson: any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling, house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, pesonal property of another. (Do not classify fires of suspicious origin or fires of unknown origin.)
• Arson: 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.
• 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; (1) 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. (2) For the purpose of this definition – (i) Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse; (ii) Dating violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence.
• Domestic Violence: (1) A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed – (i) By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim; (ii) By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common; (iii) By a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner; (iv) By a person similarly situated to a spouse or the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred, or (v) By any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws or the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
• Stalking: (1) Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to – (i) Fear for the person's safety or the safety of others; or (ii) Suffer substantial emotional distress. (2) For the purpose of this definition – (i) 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. (ii) Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling. (iii) Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.

Referrals for Discipline

For Weapons, Drug, and Liquor Law Violations, Clery reportable crimes are those incidents only where arrests or disciplinary referrals occur.

• Weapon Law Violations: the violation of laws or ordinances dealing with weapon offenses, regulatory in nature, such as: manufacture, sale, or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minors; aliens possessing deadly weapons; all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
• Drug Abuse Violations: Violations of state and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include: opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine); marijuana; synthetic narcotics (Demerol, methadones); and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (barbiturates, Benzedrine).(Drug/narcotic violations referred for campus disciplinary action under the Campus Code need not be reported to the Police Department).
• Liquor Law Violations: The violation of laws or ordinance prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition.) -Alcohol violations referred for campus disciplinary action under the Campus Code need not be reported to the Police Department).
• Hate Crimes: A crime involving one or more of the above listed crimes, the crimes of theft, simple assault, intimidation and/or vandalism reported to local police agencies or to a campus security authority that manifests evidence that the victim was intentionally selected because of the perpetrator's bias against the victim. The categories of bias include the victim's actual or perceived race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, and disability.
• Larceny-Theft (Except Motor Vehicle Theft): The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another. Attempted larcenies are included. Embezzlement, confidence games, forgery, worthless checks, etc., are excluded.
• Simple Assault: An 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: 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.
• Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property: To willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real of personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.