How to Report a Crime

Campus Policy on Reporting Crime

The College strongly encourages every member of the community—faculty, staff, students, and visitors—to report any crime promptly. To report a crime or emergency, members of the community should call the Department of Public Safety. Professionally trained officers are available for emergency response 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

For campus emergencies, dial 1-911, 24 hours a day. For non-emergencies dial x2304 on campus or 413-538-2304 from off campus (cell phone users should dial this number for emergencies as well). Blue-light phones located strategically around the campus connect directly with Public Safety and are available for use in emergencies. Calls to Public Safety (1-911, x2304, and the blue-light phones) are recorded.

Call public safety if you see…

  • Strangers or strange cars in or around a residence hall or other building.
  • Anyone trying to open car doors or suspiciously tampering with a motor vehicle.
  • Suspicious vehicles parked with the motor running.
  • Damaged doors or windows in residence halls or other buildings.
  • Loiterers in dark or secluded areas.
  • Someone peering into or trying to open windows.
  • Someone displaying a weapon.
  • A stranger carrying articles like appliances or luggage out of residence halls or other buildings.

Call public safety if you hear…

  • Someone screaming.
  • Breaking glass.
  • A stranger trying to enter your building.
  • A call for police.
  • A call for help.
  • Loud or obscene shouting indicating a disturbance.
  • An explosion or gunshots.

If you notify Public Safety, the dispatcher will send officers (and ambulances, if necessary) to any section of the campus. Please try to have the following information for the dispatcher:

  • What you see or hear.
  • The address or location of the incident.
  • The number of people involved.
  • A description of the people involved.
  • License numbers and descriptions of cars involved.
  • The direction of fleeing suspects.
  • Your name and address (if you wish to give it)

Operation Campus Watch

Operation Campus Watch is an informal partnership between Public Safety and the rest of the Mount Holyoke community to work together to prevent crime. Keep Public Safety apprised of what you see and hear, and call immediately if you notice anything suspicious.

Third Party Anonymous Reports of Sexual Assault

The College has a policy to accept third-party anonymous reports of sexual assault on a standard form available in the Office of the Dean of the College, the Health Center, and at Public Safety. The form is forwarded to Public Safety for inclusion in the annual security report. Remember that all employees, except where confidentiality is governed by law, should report to Public Safety any criminal incidents brought to their attention. The survivor’s name is not required. This allows Public Safety to have accurate records of the number of incidents involving members of the community, to include those statistics in our annual Safe & Sound security report, and to alert the community if there is a potential of danger.

Campus Security Authorities

The Department of Public Safety is the campus agency required to compile Clery Act crime statistics for incidents reported on campus. While the Department encourages victims to report crimes occurring on the campus directly to Public Safety, we also collect crime data from other administrators on campus who are required to report crime statistics to the Department of Public Safety for inclusion in the Annual Clery document as well as for the issuance of Safety Alerts (see below). Such designated “Campus Security Authorities” are defined in the Clery Act as “any individual who has responsibility for campus security but wo does not constitute a campus police or security department…or who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities."

This includes the Dean of the College, Dean of Students, Director of Residential Life, Director of Athletics, Director of Student Programs and as well as a number of other program directors. All crimes reported to these Campus Security Authorities are then reported to the Department of Public Safety for inclusion in statistics and for review for the need for a timely notice of a crime reported on campus. This report is made to the Department of Public Safety regardless of whether the victim chooses to file a report with the Department of Public Safety or press charges, but can be reported confidentially to allow the statistic to be maintained and an alert to be issued if it would benefit the community to do issue the notice.

Professional and pastoral counselors are exempt from the requirement to report crimes to Public Safety when that information is received by them while they are acting in that pastoral or counseling role. However, they are encouraged, if and when they deem it appropriate, to inform persons being counseled of the procedures to report crimes on a voluntary basis for inclusion into the annual crime statistics.

Confidential Reporting Policy

Although the College recognizes the importance of confidentiality, federal law requires us to record and act upon certain information affecting the safety of the entire community. The Department of Public Safety operates under federal and Massachusetts general laws and has statutory requirements imposed for confidentiality, privacy, and public disclosure of investigatory material. As a general matter of law, the department must acknowledge that an alleged crime has been reported and release basic information about location and time of occurrence. Disclosure of this information is always done so as to protect the victim’s privacy.