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Security violates federal crime log law, Oct. 11
The public crime log at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa will be updated in a more timely way starting next week, according to Kathleen Cutshaw, Vice Chancellor for Administration, Finance, and Operations.
A physical copy of the log also became available for public review as of yesterday, Oct. 11.
Cutshaw's announcement came after Ka Leo O Hawai‘i printed a story yesterday about Campus Security violating a federal law that requires campus crimes reports be made available to the public within two days of being logged. UH's online crime log sometimes was updated one to two weeks late, though the Jeanne Clery Act mandates updates within two days of the report.
"I was not aware of (the federal violation) before the story came out because I rely on my directors to run their departments," said Cutshaw, who oversees Campus Security. "We thank Ka Leo for bringing it to our attention."
Campus Security Chief Neal Sakamoto e-mailed Cutshaw yesterday, notifying her that current log reports would be processed within a few days. As of this morning, Oct. 12, the most recent online entry includes crimes reported from Sept. 20 to 26, or two weeks ago. Sakamoto updates the crime log and sends them to the university's Information Technology Services department for online posting.
Under the law, the log must include any crime that occurs on campus or in a building or on public property within the jurisdiction of the university's security. The nature, date, time, general location and disposition of the complaint must be recorded.
Campus Security has not been in compliance with federal law since April when Sakamoto closed the paper log to the public and put it online a month later. While he did not notify nor give reasons to UH Mānoa's administration for the change, Cutshaw said Sakamoto won't face any consequences for his actions but was cautioned by the administration to get into compliance immediately.
"(Updating weekly) doesn't do much good to the students," Cutshaw said. "Security's operation should be transparent, as safety for students is very crucial."
While Sakamoto said a physical copy of the log has been available at the security office since spring, an officer denied a request by a Ka Leo reporter - requesting as a student - to view the log.
Sakamoto told Ka Leo that security had been busy in the past months with events such as the UH Applied Research Laboratory protest and Toyota Motor Co. Aerosmith concert.
"Those (events) weren't in the same context as the security log," Cutshaw said. "No other work load issue should take precedence over the Clery Act, period."
Congress established the Jeanne Clery Act in 1990 after a Lehigh University student named Jeanne Clery was murdered on campus four years prior. In addition to disclosing information in a public crime log, the law requires colleges and universities to publish an annual report by Oct. 1 with three years' worth of campus crime statistics.
The online log for UH Mānoa Campus Security can be found at http://www.hawaii.edu/security/crimelogs.html.
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