Annual Security Report

The annual Security and Safety Report is provided to meet the requirements of the Jeanne Clery disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1998 and the revisions of 2000 and 2010, and the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Campus Security (Michael Minger) Act of 2000 The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, codified at 20 USC 1092 (f) as a part of the Higher Education Act of 1965, is a federal law that requires colleges and universities to disclose certain timely and annual information about campus crime and security policies. All public and private institutions of postsecondary education participating in federal student aid programs are subject to this act. The Clery Act, originally enacted by the Congress and signed into law by President George Bush in 1990 as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, was championed by Howard and Connie Clery after their daughter Jeanne was murdered at Lehigh University in 1986. They also founded the non-profit agency Security On Campus, Inc. in 1987. Amendments to the Act in 1998 renamed it in memory of Jeanne Clery.

The Clery Act was revised under the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008.

Beginning on July 1, 2010, the Clery Act requires colleges and universities to have emergency response and evacuation procedures in place. Institutions must include a summary of the emergency response procedures in their annual security report.

Federal Law

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (referred to as the “Clery Act”) is part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act. It requires institutions of higher education that receive federal financial aid to report specified crime statistics on college campuses and to provide other safety and crime information to members of the campus community. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is responsible for enforcing the Clery Act. ED's Clery Act Compliance Division is responsible for conducting investigations and issuing findings of violation. Institutions that violate the Clery Act may face warnings, up to $35,000 per violation fines, the limitation or suspension of federal aid, or the loss of eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs.

The Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, or Campus SAVE Act is a 2013 amendment to the federal Jeanne Clery Act. SAVE was designed by advocates along with victims/survivors and championed by a bi-partisan coalition in Congress as a companion to Title IX that will help bolster the response to and prevention of sexual violence in higher education.

SAVE requires colleges and universities, both public and private, participating in federal student aid programs (covering virtually every campus in the United States) to increase transparency about the scope of sexual violence on campus, guarantee victims enhanced rights, provide for standards in institutional conduct proceedings, and provide campus community wide prevention educational programming.

 

State Law

The Kentucky Campus Safety and Security Act (referred to as the Michael “Minger Act”) requires higher education institutions in Kentucky to report crime statistics to current and prospective students and employees, to maintain a daily crime log, to report a fire or threat of fire to the State Fire Marshal immediately, and to issue special reports when there is an ongoing threat to the safety of students and employees. An annual report of campus safety policies, programs and statistics must also be submitted to the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

Each college of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System is responsible for the preparation of the Annual Security Report in cooperation with Legal Affairs, Campus Security Authorities, and local police agencies. The statistics include alleged and attempted crimes. All crimes reported in “good faith” and occurring on-campus, on public property surrounding our campuses, or in off campus college-owned buildings or property is recorded for inclusion in the annual crime statistics. This report provides statistics for the previous three academic years. The statistics are requested annually from local law enforcement agencies and submitted to the Security Director for collection and analysis. For statistical purposes, crime statistics reported to any of these sources are recorded in the calendar year the crime was reported.

The report includes statistics submitted by Legal Affairs, Student Affairs, Human Resources, Campus Security Authorities, and local law enforcement agencies. These reports are reviewed, and if reportable under the Clery Act, are included in the annual statistics. Police arrest statistics and campus disciplinary referral data for weapons violations, drug violations and liquor law violations are analyzed by Campus Security to avoid duplicated reporting. Our colleges do not have any student organizations at Off-Campus locations, therefore incidents related to off-campus activities of student organizations are not reported.

All of these statistics are gathered, compiled and reported to the campus community via the Annual Security Report which is published each year. Campus Security submits the annual crime statistics published in this report to the Department of Education (ED) each year. The statistical information gathered by the Department of Education is available to the public through the ED web site.

By October 1 of each year, all enrolled students and employees receive an email notification regarding a summary of the content and the availability of the report via the college website, as well as how to request a printed copy of the report. Prospective students and employees receive information regarding the report from the head of security.

Campus Security Authorities are defined as individuals having significant responsibility for student activities, including administrators and student services personnel such as, Deans, Directors, Legal Affairs, athletic team coaches, and faculty and/or student advisors. Although crimes should be reported to campus Security or the Title IX Coordinator (sexual violence only), if these individuals receive a report of a crime listed under the Clery Act they are obligated to report it to campus security for purposes of disclosure in the annual crime statistics. 

KCTCS colleges do not have a campus police department.  No campus personnel have arresting powers. If physical measures are needed to ensure the safety and security of persons on campus, state or local police agencies shall be contacted. 

While there are no Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with local or state enforcement agencies. KCTCS Colleges maintain a strong working relationship with state and local police through training, meetings and communicating with local and state police agencies in the investigation of criminal offenses.

WKCTC's Campus Security Authorities are:

• Dr. Anton Reece
• Shay Nolan
• Jennifer Tubbs
• Kate Senn
• John Tolliver
• Douglas Akers
• Andrew Roberts
• Kianan Goodaker
• Larry Lesniewski
• Scott Muir
• Lauren Brisson
• Whitney Walker
• Chris Tilley
• Ricky Pearl
• Larry Jones
• Dennis Dickey
• Jackie Robinson
• Chase Durrance
• Mark Cavanah

Off-Campus Student Organizations

WKCTC does not recognize any student organizations who meet at off-campus locations.

Student Housing

WKCTC does not operate student housing facilities.

Procedures for Campus Crime Reporting

Students, staff, faculty, and guests are strongly encouraged to promptly report all criminal actions or other emergencies occurring on Campus to campus Security Authority or local police agencies, if necessary.

Crimes should be reported to the Campus Security Authority for purposes of assessing the crime, for distributing potential timely warning notices, and for disclosure in the annual crime statistics. Crime reporting is critical as it may prevent future crimes, protects the community, and increases the likelihood of apprehension and adjudication of perpetrators.

Although Campus Security strives to maintain a safe and open environment for victims to report crimes, individuals may not feel comfortable contacting the police.  In these instances, reporting to other campus security authorities are available. As an example, sex offenses may be reported to the college Title IX Coordinator.

Procedures for survivor/victim or witness to report voluntarily and/or confidentially

If you wish to report a sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking incident on a completely confidential basis, you may report the crime to:

If a crime survivor/victim or witness chooses not to file a police report or to pursue action against the perpetrator within the college process, they may still consider making a confidential report. In certain circumstances, the victim may request that the Operations Manager for Security and Safety or a designee file a report of the details of the incident without revealing the victim’s identity. The purpose of a confidential report is to comply with the wishes of the victim/survivor to keep the matter and/or their identity confidential, while allowing the Operations Manager for Security and Safety and/or other officials to take action to protect the future safety of the crime survivor/victim and others. With this information, the Operations Manager for Security and Safety can potentially determine a pattern of crime and alert the campus community to potential threat or danger. Reports are filed in this manner are threat or danger. Reports filed in this manner are counted and disclosed in the annual crime statistics.

The Operations Manager for Security and Safety will review confidentiality options with the reporting party prior to taking the report.

WKCTC does not have professional nor pastoral counselors available on campus.

WKCTC suggests the following off-campus resources for counseling:

• Purchase Area Sexual Assault Center
  1-800-928-7273
• Four Rivers Behavioral Health
  (270) 534-8363

In some cases, the Director of Safety and Security (or equivalent official) will make timely warning reports to members of the campus community regarding criminal activity. The criminal activity must be serious in nature and likely to pose an ongoing or continued threat to the safety of students, staff, faculty, and guests. The decision to make a timely warning report will be made by the Campus Security Authorities. Notification is generally made through a campus-wide email bulletin to all members of the campus community.  Flyers may also be placed in the common areas of the buildings used by the campus community.  Timely warning information may be posted on the applicable KCTCS college websites and/or digital banners.

It is the consistent practice of the KCTCS community to notify the Campus Security Authorities and/or designee, who then confers as necessary with appropriate KCTCS System Office administrators, Public Relations, Legal counsel and neighboring law enforcement agencies after a violent crime or Clery Act crime is reported.  This is done to determine if the circumstances and facts represent a serious or ongoing threat to members of the community.

The Campus Security Authorities will prepare and arrange to disseminate a timely warning as soon as pertinent information and resources are available. The Campus Security Authority is primarily responsible for issuing timely warnings. Timely warnings may be developed in partnership with appropriate campus departments, KCTCS Office of General Counsel, and KCTCS Safety and Emergency Services. The crime bulletin is reviewed and approved for release by Campus Security, Marketing and Communications, KCTCS Office of General Counsel or some combination. This collaboration is sometimes necessary when a bulletin for crimes of a more serious or immediate nature is needed to prepare consistent information for release on the website and/or digital signage to the campus community.

WKCTC is an open campus.

Operating hours during Fall/Spring semesters are:
8:00am to 11:00pm Monday - Friday

Saturday hours vary by semester course offerings and events.

Summer sessions hours are dependent on course offerings.

WKCTC has an Operations Manager for Security and Safety. The Operations Manager for Security and Safety supervises and coordinates college employed security guards to promote a safe and secure environment for WKCTC. Campus facilities are accessible for academic, training, recreational,and administrative purposes.

The general public also has access to these facilities and often uses the library, student center, recreational facilities and other venues where sporting events and other special events are conducted. Only authorized personnel have keys to facilities. The security officers check facilities to determine that they are secure during non-business hours.

All special events scheduled by on or off campus entities must have prior authorization. Contact Operations Manager for Security and Safety for information on special event policies and procedures. Events may require additional approval, staffing and coordination with Campus Security to meet security, parking, and traffic needs.

KCTCS makes every effort to ensure that the campus facilities and grounds are designed and maintained to promote safety, prevent crime, and minimize hazardous conditions. Attention is paid to the design and maintenance of facilities, landscaping and exterior lighting. The Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Dept. maintains the buildings and grounds. Campus facilities are inspected on a regular basis and repairs impacting safety and security are made promptly. Campus M&O are mindful of security and safety concerns, keeping vegetation controlled around lighting fixtures and along campus walkways and roadways on a regular schedule. Strategies and concepts of crime prevention through environmental design are considered in the design and construction of new facilities.

M&O personnel regularly patrols the campus and reports malfunctioning lights and other unsafe physical conditions to M&O Supervisor for correction. We encourage community members to promptly report any security concern, including concerns about locking mechanisms, lighting, or landscaping to the Campus Security Authorities.

Information Sharing

WKCTC security awareness and crime prevention pro-grams have an overall goal of creating and maintaining a safe environment to support the academic mission of the college and ensure the well-being of campus community members.

The goal of sharing this information is to inform students and employees about security procedures, the practices to promote safety and eliminate or minimize criminal opportunities, and to encourage students/employees to take responsibility for personal and community safety.

Programs and Prevention

A common theme of all awareness and crime prevention programs is to encourage students and employees to be aware of their responsibility for their own security and the security of others.

Crime awareness and campus security information is printed in class schedules and Student Handbook each semester, and is provided via email to all faculty, staff, and students. The Safety Policies and Crisis Manual are distributed to employees and students via emails at the beginning of each fall, spring, and summer semester. These policies inform faculty, staff and students how to report a crime and how to protect their valuables and to report suspicious activity.

“WKCTC Safety Policies and Crisis Manual Seminars” are held during the academic year to review policies and procedures and provide information about crime prevention. These seminars are open to all faculty, staff, and students.

During the academic year a “Drug and alcohol abuse, Sexual assault prevention, and Crimes Awareness” week program is held for students, faculty, and staff. Various seminars that include drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual assault prevention awareness, and other crime related topics are held by the Criminal Justice Club. These seminars are free and open to all of the campus community.

The College has a “First Year Experience” program for all new employees, both faculty and staff, that provides information relating to crime prevention and reporting of crimes, along with information relating to the College’s safety policies and crisis procedures.

Program attendance is strongly encouraged and some supervisors require mandatory attendance for their new employees.

The Workforce Solutions area offers a Self-Defense Program during the year that is open to all faculty, staff and students at a nominal fee.

The Security Guard Office offers escorts to faculty, staff and students during the semester when requested.

KCTCS Drug and Alcohol Policy

KCTCS is committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for its students, faculty, and staff. KCTCS has defined conduct in relation to the unlawful possession, use, dispensation, distribution, or manufacture of alcohol or illicit drugs. Conduct which is in violation of this definition poses unacceptable risks and disregard for the health, safety, and welfare of members of the KCTCS community and shall result in disciplinary action up to and including suspension or termination.

As a recipient of federal grants and contracts, KCTCS gives this notice to students, faculty, and staff that it is in compliance with, and shall continue to be in compliance with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendment of 1989. Students, faculty and staff are herein notified of the standards of conduct which shall be applicable while on KCTCS property, on KCTCS business, and/or at KCTCS sponsored activities.

Sanctions

Under KCTCS policies and procedures, students who violate this standard of conduct are subject to disciplinary action from a minimum of a warning to a maximum of suspension from KCTCS.

Faculty and staff are subject to disciplinary action from a minimum of a warning to a maximum of termination from KCTCS employment.

Under state and federal drug laws, the gravity of the sanction depends on the classification of the controlled substance, the particular activity involved (possession or trafficking which includes manufacture, sale, and possession with intent to sell), and whether or not multiple convictions are involved.

Under Kentucky law, the most severe penalty for a drug law violation involves trafficking. On a first offense conviction, one may receive a fine of up to $10,000.00 and/or a sentence of up to ten years in the penitentiary; for subsequent offenses, the penalties may be doubled.

Under federal law, for simple possession of a controlled substance, one may be imprisoned for up to one (1) year and/or fined up to $1,000.00. For subsequent offenses, one may be imprisoned for up to three (3) years and/or fined up to $5,000.00. Under federal law, one may be fined up to $8,000,000.00 and/or may be sentenced from not less than 10 years up to life in prison for drug trafficking. For violations of other federal drug laws, one may receive life in prison or the death penalty.

Under both state and federal laws, one may suffer the loss of whatever property (house, farm) or possessions (vehicle) which one may have used in the drug trade.

Sanctions for violation of state alcohol laws vary from a fine of $10.00 to $2,000.00, a sentence of forty-eight (48) hours to twelve (12) months in jail, and/or suspension of one's operator's license.

Help Programs

Students are encouraged to contact the Operations Manager for Security and Safety for information and appropriate referrals.

Other counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation services are available in the West Kentucky area.

The College has an “Employee Assistance Program” available to all employees should assistance be needed for drug or alcohol abuse. This program is provided free of charge to employees and is confidential.

Students, faculty, staff, and visitors to campus are encouraged to annually review and be familiar with the KCTCS Sexual Misconduct Policy.

Review of this policy is required for faculty, staff, and student employees yearly for continued employment.

SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY

In compliance with the Federal Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act of 2000, KCTCS, through the Kentucky State Police, makes information available to the campus community concerning registered sex offenders who may be employees or students at your college.

The Kentucky State Police provides sex crime offender registration information to the public through the Sex Offender Registry website. Search the KSP Sex Offender Registry Website.

According to the Kentucky State Police, this website is for public safety and awareness. Pursuant to KRS 525.070 and 525.080, use of information from this website to harass a sex offender is a criminal offense punishable by up to 90 days in the county jail. More severe penalties apply for more severe crimes committed against a sex offender.

Security and Crisis Management 

KCTCS Safety and Emergency Services assists Campus Security departments with developing, maintaining, and implementing emergency operations plans, developing and conducting exercises, hazard and risk education, and building partnerships with external response agencies. KCTCS Procedure 523-P is followed for Critical Incidents and other preparedness measures.

The System Office Crisis Management Team staffs the System Office Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and may be activated to provide resource and support services to college EOC, if needed. The System Office Crisis Management Team is equipped to provide the following services to colleges when requested:

• Public and media relations support
• Facilities support
• Temporary alteration of administrative and business policies and procedures
• Procurement of resource and support services
• After-action incident evaluation

Not all incidents will require an activation of your EOC. For smaller, routine campus incidents response operations may be managed virtually by several members of your Crisis Management Team. 

Emergency Action Plans detailing evacuation routes are provided in every building and classroom on KCTCS campuses. 

KCTCS regularly works with local law enforcement to ensure any incidents reported in the area, that may affect the college, are communicated. 

Emergency Notification

KCTCS uses a Safety Notification Alert Process (SNAP) for communication information quickly. Students are automatically signed up when they enroll at an KCTCS college. Faculty, staff and interested individuals can sign up to receive SNAP messages online. 

In the event of an incident that requires the immediate notification to the campus community, a SNAP Alert will be issued, that will provide text, voice, broadcast and e-mail messages to all members of the college community.  Face-to-face communication will be used in the event technology fails.   

Each KCTCS College has a SNAP Team and uses a consultation approach to confirm there is a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of student or employees occurring on campus.  The college President is responsible for confirming an emergency, with the assistance of college administrators, local first responders and/or the national weather service.  Upon confirmation, the college will, without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the notification system, unless issuing a notification will in the professional judgment of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to or otherwise mitigate the emergency. 

The KCTCS College team and/or designated personnel, when possible, will determine the content of the notification, considering the scope of the notification based on the segment of the community at risk (e.g. targeted areas, campus wide, building specific)

SNAP Team Members

• Vice President for Campus Operations
• Admin Assistant to the VP for Campus Operations
• Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Operations Manager for Security and Safety
• Director for Marketing and Communications
• Director for Information Technology
• Maintenance and Operations Supervisors

SNAP is not the only means the College uses to communicate emergency information to the College community. KCTCS Colleges may use their website, local TV, radio, newspaper, and various social media.

Follow-up information will be provided to the campus community using some or all of the systems described above. The larger community, parents, neighbors, and other interested parties can access emergency information through the college website or the media. 

Training, Drills, and Exercises

Each semester, the campuses conducts drills, exercises and appropriate follow-up training.  These activities are designed to improve emergency response on an ongoing basis. After action report briefings and corrective action plans are developed and conducted for each exercise or activation. Documentation of past exercises which include exercise descriptions, date, time, whether the exercise was announced/unannounced are available for review upon request. Contact the Safety and Security office for more information or to make a request. 

The IT Department documents and files each SNAP Alert test. This includes a description of the drill or exercise, date, time of test, and how the test was announced or it was unannounced.

The College has a campus emergency number to call in case of emergencies. That number is (270) 564-8403.

Minor Emergency

Any incident that will not seriously affect the overall functional capacity of the college. Report immediately to cam-pus security at (270) 564-8403.

On Campus

Non Campus

Public Property

No hate crimes reported for 2021, 2022, or 2023.

On-Campus

Non Campus

Public Property

No hate crimes reported for 2021, 2022, or 2023.

On-Campus

Non Campus

Public Property

No hate crimes reported for 2021, 2022, or 2023.

On-Campus

Non Campus

Public Property

No hate crimes reported for 2021, 2022, or 2023.

On-Campus

Non Campus

Public Property

No hate crimes reported for 2021, 2022, or 2023.