Authored by: Jason Goodrich, CPP, Dr. Jack Moorman, NC State University Police Chief (retired), and Jim Lee, Northeast Sales Director – CriticalArc
US colleges and universities continue to look for ways to appease the increasing institutional pressures of complying with the Clery Act. Gone are the days when this issuewas simply a purview of the campus public safety team. The Department of Education has made it clear that the administrations of every campus should be heavily involved in meeting the compliance requirements and supporting their public safety teams with the tools and personnel necessary to meet those regulations. General counsel, risk management, student affairs, and the public safety teams have all seen their roles and responsibilities expand, particularly with the integration of VAWA Act crimes into Clery compliance.
SafeZone by CriticalArc provides a suite of tools to campuses to enhance their safety, emergency preparedness, and crisis response capabilities. The use of these tools supports compliance with Clery regulations. With a single platform, you can now have command and control, mass and emergency communication capabilities, plus the features of a public safety app all under a single pane of glass.
Exercises and Drills
To comply with the Clery Act, universities are required to conduct an annual test. This test is a regularly scheduled drill or exercise, accompanied by an after-action report, aimed at assessing and evaluating emergency plans and capabilities. For instance, a full-scale exercise such as a building evacuation on campus serves as an excellent method to rigorously test the procedures laid out in your emergency plan, ensuring their effectiveness in a real emergency.
How can universities leverage the SafeZone platform capabilities to run a successful evacuation drill? Before the evacuation drill is scheduled, review the emergency plans and see if there are any areas where part of the plan can be automated. SafeZone’s gives universities the capability to automate steps in the emergency plan. For example, if an emergency plan includes notifying senior leadership and secondary responders when a building is being evacuated, universities can use the Workflow Engine to automatically send a push, SMS and/or email to senior leadership and secondary responders the moment a fire alarm is triggered. This automation helps ensure no critical steps are overlooked when executing emergency plans.

During a building evacuation, it’s essential to know the whereabouts of both first and secondary responders. While radios facilitate communication, secondary responders may not have them, and radios don’t offer public safety leaders a visual map of responders’ locations. SafeZone’s visualization capabilities address this gap, enabling leaders to monitor if everyone is positioned correctly. Additionally, SafeZone’s visualization capability allows each type of responder (i.e., first responders, emergency response team members, building captains, etc.) to be color-coded and filtered, providing a clear view of all responders during a drill.

One of the requirements of an annual Clery test is an after-action report to evaluate whether the measurable goals of the evacuation drill were achieved and to determine any necessary updates or changes to the emergency plan. SafeZone’s Playback Studio enables universities to replay the entire evacuation drill to thoroughly assess if the drill met the measurable goals and where improvements can be made.

Campus Security Authority Reports
Collecting reports from campus security authorities is a key area of Clery compliance, even if it simply means demonstrating that no crimes were reported. However, doing this easily and efficiently is sometimes a challenge. SafeZone addresses this need by integrating the reporting requirement into the app’s report submission feature.
Whether a freeform box or a web-linked form is preferred, SafeZone offers an easy and effective mechanism for submitting these reports directly to the Clery coordinator.
Safety Planning for VAWA Crime Victims
The incorporation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) into the Clery compliance made dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking all reportable crimes under Clery. Both Clery and Title mandate that victims are notified of their rights and resources and that a safety plan is in place for them. Using features such as check in and workflows can provide victims with peace of mind by ensuring that key personnel, from detectives to Title IX Coordinators, are aware of their presence on campus. Activating a duress alert with public safety can also trigger a workflow, notifying necessary individuals that a VAWA victim is experiencing an emergency. Moreover, safety plans can even be incorporated into the security note field of the user’s profile, ensuring public safety officers are aware of any specific issues or required responses.
Timely Warnings / Safety Notices
Campuses often distribute timely warnings via email, but what other methods can raise awareness without using the entire mass communication system? With SafeZone you can create triggers to notify individuals when they enter a designated geofenced area. Whether it’s a timely warning needed for the campus or a safety notice for off-campus students who may live nearby, community members can receive a push notification with a link to a webpage simply by crossing into the area. SafeZone can also broadcast the notices via any traditional methods universities may require.

Study Abroad
As incidents arise while faculty and students are traveling abroad, the Department of Education emphasizes the importance of knowing their locations and maintaining communication. In critical situations, traveling groups can be prompted to check in, enabling immediate location tracking and facilitating two-way communication. This ensures timely updates and safety instructions are relayed effectively.
Media Audits
Any incident that generates media coverage may trigger a media audit from the Clery Office. As part of that audit, universities will need to provide a timeline of the incident and their response, if any, to it. With SafeZone’s playback and timestamped entries, the response and its role in decision-making during the incident, such as determining when and whether to issue a timely warning or emergency notification, can be clearly demonstrated. Having additional supporting documentation readily available for these audits is highly beneficial.
Consultancy and Support
One of the best benefits of SafeZone is the exceptional support from the Customer Success team. Whether it’s collaborating to maximize the value of features, or assisting with problem-solving, the Customer Success team is always there and ready to help. CriticalArc’s team of consultants is also available to help with Clery questions, plan and manage drills and exercises, assess physical security measures, or train community members when time or resources are limited.
SafeZone by CriticalArc not only provides tools like a public safety app, mass and emergency communications, and command and control capability but also supports Clery compliance needs. Assistance is always available with implementing desired changes and managing drills and exercises, ensuring support is there every step of the way.