University of California campuses should make a number of adjustments to improve how they keep and report crime statistics, but there has been no deliberate under-reporting of crime, a systemwide task force has concluded in a report released last Friday.

The task force said there were even some instances of campuses over-reporting crimes.

UC's task force was formed in late September by Joseph Mullinix, UC senior vice president for business and finance, to review how well campuses were complying with the federal Clery Act. That law sets forth requirements on how campus crime statistics should be kept and classified, along with requirements that students, staff and faculty be kept informed of the availability of crime statistics. The act was named in memory of Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University student who was raped and murdered on her campus in 1986.

The task force received an independent assessment of campus compliance from Dolores Stafford, the police chief of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a nationally recognized expert on campus crime reporting.

Mullinix said the task force's work was valuable and should be shared nationwide.

The task force's work represents the most comprehensive and systematic look at compliance with the Clery Act undertaken by any major university, Mullinix said.

"This report from the University of California will be enormously helpful to colleges and universities nationwide," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education. "No other college or university that we know of has undertaken such a thorough review of compliance with the Clery Act.

"The provisions of the act are so complex, and the reporting requirements so difficult for campuses to meet, a report like this will prove itself an invaluable guide for other institutions to follow. This document will be used again and again by colleges."

There were several instances of over-reporting cited in the report. At UC Irvine, one category listed 140 liquor law arrests when only 14 were found in the records. At UC Riverside, 73 disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations were reported, but only 65 incidents could be found in the records. At UC Davis, DUI alcohol offense totals were reported when they were not required to be reported.

In a separate action, the university also has released its point-by-point reply to questions raised by a U.S. Department of Education review of Clery Act compliance among UC campuses. The UC reply said there were instances where campuses had not fully complied with all requirements of the act because of reporting inconsistencies and statistical misclassifications. It added that steps are underway to bring all UC campuses into full compliance.

The problems of misclassifications and inconsistencies were also addressed by the task force, which blamed many reporting errors on misinterpretations of the Clery Act. In addition, some procedures for disseminating crime data did not meet the act's requirements, again because of misunderstanding or misinterpretation. The report said there were also some instances where lack of resources contributed to the misclassifications.

"There was no evidence that campuses deliberately underreported crime. In fact, some campuses over reported crimes," the task force said.

Some of the campus-to-campus inconsistencies the task force uncovered include:

• Statistics are not always consistent because of differing crime definitions contained in the FBI's Uniform Crime Code, the California Penal Code and the Clery Act.
• Some campuses include statistics at all off-campus sites that have university-related functions (such as fraternity or sorority houses) while other campuses do not.
• While all campuses describe extensive safety programs in written materials and brochures, not all campuses have statements on the complete list of policies the Clery Act requires.

The task force's recommendations include:

• The university should develop a method of reconciling the varying crime definitions contained in the FBI's Uniform Crime Code, the California Penal Code, and the Clery Act.
• The university should develop a uniform format for reporting UC crime statistics.
• The university should establish a single "clearinghouse" office within systemwide administration to facilitate consistent campus compliance with the Clery Act, and a single, high-level executive should be assigned responsibility for assuring compliance. This office would establish and maintain a central UC website on compliance with links to campus sites.
• The university should implement systemwide, comprehensive UC Clery Act compliance guidelines, including "best practices."
• The university should implement an ongoing training program and information exchange for all campuses.

The complete report of the task force and a listing of its eight members - including representatives from campus police departments, university administration, student services, legal counsel and public information - is available at http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/commserv/clery/