Confidential Reporting Procedures

If you are the victim of a crime and do not want to pursue action within the College or criminal justice system, you may still want to consider making a confidential report. With your permission, the Director of Security can file a report on the details of the incident without revealing your identity. The purpose of a confidential report is to comply with your wish to keep the matter confidential, while taking steps to ensure the future safety of yourself and others. With such information, the College can keep accurate records of the number of incidents involving students, determine where there is a pattern of crime with regard to a particular location, method, or assailant, and alert the campus community to potential danger. Reports filed in this manner are counted and disclosed in the annual crimes statistics for the institution.

The Otterbein College Security Department encourages anyone who is the victim or witness to any crime to promptly report the incident to security or the police. Because police reports are public records under state law, the Security Department cannot hold reports of crime in confidence. Confidential reports for purposes of inclusion in the annual disclosure of crime statistics can generally be made to other Otterbein College Security Authorities, as identified above.

Back to Clery Act Main Page