Timely Warning Policy

Timely Warnings will be provided to the Xavier community in the event of a reported crime, on campus, that, in the judgment of the Chief of XUPD or a designee, constitutes a serious or continuing threat to the University community. Although not required, there may be some crimes that occur near the campus that may result in the issuance of a Timely Warning Notice. A warning will be issued as soon as the pertinent information is available. The warnings are generally written, approved and distributed by the Chief of Police or a designee in the police department. If the police department is unable to create and send the message, the following departments are authorized to create and send the timely warning notice, Audit and Risk Management, Clery Compliance and Safety and University Communications. The primary method of communicating Timely Warning Notices to the entire campus community will be a blast email via the University's XU Alert Me system. The Timely Warning Notices may also be posted on the Xavier University Safety Website at https://www.xavier.edu/safety. Updates to the Xavier University community about any particular case resulting in a Timely Warning will be posted on the Xavier Safety Website.

Timely Warnings are generally distributed for the following Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR)/National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) classifications: major incidents of arson, aggravated assault, criminal homicide, robbery and sex offenses. Cases of aggravated assault and sex offenses are considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the facts of the case and the information known by XUPD. For example, if an assault occurs between two students who have a disagreement, there may be no on-going threat to other Xavier University community members and a Timely Warning would not be distributed. In cases involving sexual assault, they are often reported long after the incident occurred, thus there is no ability to distribute a "timely" notice to the community. Sex offenses will be considered on a case by case basis depending on when and where the incident occurred, when it was reported, and the amount information known by XUPD. Timely Warnings are not limited to violent crimes or crimes against persons and may be issued for threats to persons or to property. Whether a case warrants issuance of a Timely Warning will be evaluated by XUPD Chief or designee on a case by-case basis in light of all the facts surrounding a crime, including, but not limited to, the nature of the crime, continuing danger to the campus community, and the possible risk of compromising law enforcement efforts. This factor does not mean that in the event of a serious or continuing threat to students or employees a Timely Warning should not be issued rather, that Xavier will take law enforcement efforts into consideration when issuing a warning.

Timely Warnings will contain information that would promote safety and that would aid in the prevention of similar crimes