Southeast now must put sex-crime agreements with police in writing

Now that Gov. Jay Nixon has signed a law calling for greater cooperation between universities and law-enforcement agencies, officials from Southeast Missouri State are planning to draft a formal memorandum of understanding with Cape Girardeau police.

Kathy Mangels, the university's vice president for finance and administration, said most of the new law's provisions have been in place at the university a long time.

"The new law requires a formalized written arrangement with city police, and we will have a written arrangement, but we have had that working for many years now," she said.

The law, SB 921, strengthens the rights of crime victims and directs state universities to come up with detailed policies on sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, on and off campus.

The schools also are required to work out jurisdictional issues with police.

Mangels said Southeast's process when sex-related offenses are reported is for university police to investigate and report back to the local prosecutor, who then decides whether formal charges will be lodged. The same is true for the university's satellite campuses in Sikeston, Malden and Kennett.

When incidents occur off campus, police usually flag university safety officials, Mangels said.

"We have had a really good working relationship with city of Cape police for many years," she said.

Plus, unlike some universities, Southeast has 18 commissioned officers and three non-commissioned security officers.

"Some universities don't have a true police force," Mangels said.

In cases where on-campus students call local police instead of public safety officers at the university, the police turn those cases over to university police.

But if incidents happen outside of Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Malden or Kennett, there's nothing the university can do.

"In those instances, we do not have jurisdiction," Mangels said. "We have students from across the country. You can't really have reciprocal arrangements where students may come from."

Like other universities in Missouri, Southeast is required to report the number and kinds of incidents reported on and off campus each year, not only because of the federal Clery Act of 1990, but because of a newer law, the Violence Against Women Act, signed in March 2013.

The VAWA expands forcible and non-forcible sex offenses to include domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

In 2014, the latest year for which information was available, four forcible sex offenses were reported on campus, with three occurring in dormitories, according to an annual report from Southeast's Department of Public Safety. That compares to seven in 2013, two in 2012 and five in 2011.

A section of the report that deals with VAWA statistics identities two domestic-violence incidents on campus in 2014 and three instances of stalking. In 2013, four domestic-violence incidents were reported, one in 2012 and two in 2011.

ljones@semissourian.com

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