Public Safety

The mission of Davis & Elkins College Office of Public Safety is to professionally provide a safe and secure learning, working and residential environment for students, staff and faculty.

The Office is responsible for the safety and security of the campus 24 hours a day every day of the year. Officers monitor on campus residence hall security cameras, as well as actually patrolling the campus via vehicle and on foot. To reach the Office of Public Safety or members of the team, please call or text 304-704-9111, or as a back-up number 304-642-6705.

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report 2023 contains crime statistics and fire information and emergency response protocols for the year 2023. The 2023 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report was originally issued to the campus community in October 2023 and a revised version issued February 9, 2024. The report can be found here.

 The Emergency Response and Safety Plan 2023 provides the protocols, evacuation procedures and key actors with contact information in the event of an emergency.  The report can be found here.

Emergency Notification System

For the safety of the campus community, the College has a state-of-the-art system that is capable of sending notifications instantly and simultaneously to all registered mobile devices and email address. Notifications are also posted on the College website and social media accounts. Messages will be urgent and of emergency nature only. For this notification system, the College has adopted an opt-out policy, which means that twice a year all current faculty, staff and student information necessary to receive emergency notifications will be uploaded to the system. You may opt-out after the uploads on October 1 and March 1 each year if you choose not to receive the notifications. To sign up, complete the process below. (Although the headline reads “Randolph County Office of Emergency Management and 911,” you will only receive alerts from Davis & Elkins College.)

Annual Campus Reporting (Jeanne Clery Act)

The Clery Act requires higher education institutions to give timely warnings of crimes that represent a threat to the safety of students or employees, and to make public their campus security policy.

It also requires that crime data are collected, reported and disseminated to campus. Crime data are disseminated in a separate publication to all students and employees.

To review the campus statistics visit the U.S. Department of Education website and enter “Davis & Elkins College” in the ‘Name of Institution’ search field.

A recent compliance requirement is a part of the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act. The sex offender registry for the state of West Virginia or for any county in the state can be found at www.wvstatepolice.com. You must click on SEX OFFENDERS and then scroll down and click on ALL COUNTIES or type in the specific county you want to search. You will then get a list and photo of each person registered, with additional background information.

Campus Incident Reporting

Campus Security Authorities Responsibilities and Resources

As part of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 USC § 1092(f)), otherwise known as the Clery Act, qualifying incidents reported to University Police, from various sources including Campus Security Authorities, are required to be annually published and made available to the campus community. One purpose of the Clery Act is to encourage the reporting and collection of accurate campus crime statistics to promote crime awareness and enhance campus safety. The intent of including non-law enforcement personnel in the Campus Security Authority (CSA) role is to acknowledge that some community members and students in particular may be hesitant about reporting crimes to the police, but may be more inclined to report incidents to other campus-affiliated individuals.

Who must report qualifying crimes?
CSAs include members of the campus police department or campus security department of an institution, any person(s) who has the authority and the duty to take action or respond to particular issues on behalf of the college/university, any individual(s) who has significant responsibility for students and campus activities. At Davis & Elkins College, the following individuals are designated as Campus Security Authorities:

  • Vice presidents, department/division chairs, directors and coaches;
  • Any faculty member responsible for supervising any activities or programs that include direct contact with students outside of the classroom (includes all faculty advisors to student groups and organizations);
  • Any staff member whose primary job description includes providing academic advice to students;
  • Residence hall staff; and,
  • Office of Student Life staff.

Any individual or organization specified in an institution’s statement of campus security policy as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offenses is considered a CSA. College CSAs have an obligation to promptly report allegations of Clery Act defined incidents which occurred on campus, on public property bordering campus and in non-campus areas which the College leases or otherwise controls. These incidents include:

  • murder and non-negligent manslaughter
  • negligent manslaughter
  • robbery
  • aggravated assault
  • burglary
  • motor vehicle theft
  • arson
  • sexual offenses (report this offense to the Title IX coordinator)
  • domestic violence (report this offense to the Title IX coordinator)
  • dating violence (report this offense to the Title IX coordinator)
  • stalking (report this offense to the Title IX coordinator)
  • arson
  • persons arrested or referred for campus disciplinary action for liquor law violations, drug-related violations and illegal weapons possession violations

In addition, the Clery Act requires institutions to report statistics for certain hate crimes (bias-motivated incidents).

Crime Reporting Process
If a Clery Act qualifying crime or an incident that may be a crime is reported to a CSA, the CSA is obligated to record the information using the CSA Incident Report Form. The reporting CSA should ensure that he/she completes all information on the form based on the information in their possession. CSAs completing the CSA Incident Report Form should not include any personal identifying information of the reporting party or other individuals in the report. CSAs should not investigate the crime or attempt to determine whether a crime, in fact, took place. Davis & Elkins College Office of Public Safety personnel may later contact the reporting CSA to gather additional information if needed. When in doubt a report should be completed and submitted. Do not assume someone else will file a report.

Crime/Emergency and Non-Emergency Reporting
Regardless of your status (CSA or non-CSA), all community members are encouraged to promptly report all campus related criminal incidents and other public safety related emergencies to the Office of Public Safety. For incidents requiring immediate attention, dial 911 or use one of the “Blue Light” Police Emergency Phones (call boxes) located throughout campus.

Click here to complete the Title IX Incident Report online.
Click here to complete an Incident Report Form online for Clery and non-Clery violations.