Campus Police
Preventing Violence on Campus
Revised: July 25, 2018
Yale University - September 13, 2009
Annie Le, a pharmacology graduate student, was found
strangled and sexually assaulted inside a wall of a basement laboratory
at the school. Raymond Clark III, employed as a laboratory technician
at the
University, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 44 years in
prison.The family of Annie Le sued Yale for failing to protect women
and tolerating aggressive male behavior. The family claimed that a
number of complaints about Clark made before the murder by several
female students had been ignored by University administration.
On June 15, 2012, Yale University entered into a voluntary
resolution agreement as a result of findings of an investigation by the
U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. This agreement
requires that the University:
- Publicize University resources and programming aimed at
responding to and preventing sexual harassment and violence.
- Will conduct periodic assessments of the campus climate to
evaluate the success of its efforts to provide a safe learning and
living environment for its students free of sexual harassment and
violence.
- Will implement a new grievance process designed to promptly and
equitably address complaints of sexual misconduct.
- Will notify the University community of the outcome of the
complaints.
- Continue to educate all sectors of the University community on
Title IX, including training for administrators, faculty, staff,
student service providers and various student populations.
In April of 2013, as a result of a separate investigation, Yale
agreed to pay $155,000 for violations of the Clery Act.
Keeping Us Safe
All LSUHSC-NO employees and students have a reasonable expectation
to a safe and secure working and learning environment free of threats
and assaults. Employees and students also have a responsibility to help
ensure the safety and security of the LSUHSC-NO campus. Louisiana State
University Health Sciences Center New Orleans is committed to
maintaining a campus free from violence including sexual assaults,
threats of violence including verbal and non-verbal threatening
behavior, and harassment. Such behavior is unacceptable and in not
permitted on the LSUHSC-NO campus. (See Chancellor's Memorandum CM 44).
Awareness is Prevention
Increasing awareness about the safety and security of our students,
faculty and staff is the primary strategy to:
- Prevent violence including domestic violence, dating violence,
sexual assault, or stalking before it occurs.
- Educate regarding the appropriate actions to take in the event
that a violent incident is encountered.
Violence Awareness and Prevention Training
Violence awareness and prevention training is required by the Campus
Sexual Assault and Violence Elimination Act (Campus SaVE). All
employees and students are required to complete this training
annually.
Training Objectives
At the end of this training, you should be able to:
- Define Violence, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Stalking and
Consent
- List options for Bystander Intervention
- Recognize warning signs of abusive behavior
- How to avoid potential attacks
- Reference LSUHSC-NO’s Campus Security Policy (CM 44).
Workplace
For the purposes of this training, the definition of “workplace”
shall include any location where LSUHSC-NO students, faculty and staff
engage in activities associated with the normal course and scope of
their employment or academic pursuits.
LSU Responsibilities
- Promote a positive, respectful, and safe working and learning
environment that fosters employees' and students’ security, safety, and
health.
- Zero tolerance for the occurrence of violence, aggressive
acts, verbal or nonverbal threatening behavior and harassment on
campus.
- Prohibit acts or threats of violence, aggression, verbal or
nonverbal threatening behavior and harassment by or against employees
and/or students at all work sites and wherever LSUHSC business is
conducted.
- Minimize the chance of exposure of employees and students to
violent, threatening, or harassing situations by implementing effective
security measures, procedures and practices.
YOUR Responsibilities
- Treat all LSUHSC-NO students, faculty, staff, patients and
visitors with respect.
- Comply with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations,
and University policies.
- Remain informed and aware of your responsibilities under these
laws, regulations and policies (e.g. stay current with your compliance
training).
- Do not bring or keep firearms or other dangerous weapons on
campus.
- Be observant of your surroundings and report any incidents of
violence to the appropriate authorities immediately.
What is Violence?
- Any verbal, physical, or psychological threat or assault on an
individual that has the intention or results in physical and/or
psychological damage.
- Includes sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence,
stalking and sexual offenses.
- Threats of violence including verbal and non-verbal threatening
behavior, and harassment.
- Any act or behavior that creates or is intended to create fear in
another person. Violence can permanently impact our students and
employees lives and may cause lasting physical and psychological harm.
Types of Violence
- Physical/Direct (e.g. hitting, punching)
- Physical/Veiled (e.g. Unsigned notes saying "Do you really want to give me that poor
performance evaluation?" Or "Do
you really want to stop my welfare check?")
- Verbal/Direct (e.g. "I’ll get
you/kill you, do harm to things or people important to you!")
- Verbal/ Conditional (e.g. IF/THEN situations “If you don’t give me a good performance
evaluation or unemployment check, then you’ll regret it.”)
- Psychological/Veiled (e.g. innuendo; body language; silent phone
calls/messages; use of threatening animals (large dogs, “pet” snakes
etc.)
Impact of Violence in the Workplace
- Physical Injuries
- Psychological/Emotional damage
- Interruption in business
- Increased costs
- Fines
- Legal judgments
- Lost productivity
- Damage to public image
Perpetrators of Violence in the Workplace
- Strangers
- Vendors
- Students
- Patients
- Employees
- Relatives
Contributing Factors
- Highly competitive environment with intense workloads
- Restructuring of an organization (e.g. impending layoffs)
- Ignoring warning signs from certain individuals who have a gripe
- Allowing an ongoing feud between co-workers unaddressed by
management
- Drug and alcohol use
- Chronic verbal abuse by a supervisor towards workers
- Denial on the part of management regarding employee tension or
favoritism towards one party
- Old school mentality by management that tolerates and enables
supervisor abuse
- Ignoring repeated and/or multiple complaints regarding an
individual’s behavior
Personality Traits of Perpetrators of Violence in the Workplace
- Low self-esteem
- Low productivity
- Low impulse control
- Lacks empathy
- Social withdrawal
- Feelings of rejection
- Resists change
- Feelings of paranoia
- Easily frustrated
- Challenges authority
Early Warning Signs
- Obsessive behavior
- Increased absenteeism
- Chemical dependency
- Verbal threats or threatening actions
- History of discipline problems
- Repeated complaints from others
- Inappropriate actions given the context (too loud, too quiet, not
interacting)
- Emotional or violent outbursts
- Obsession with weapons
- Self-destructive behavior
- Affiliation with gangs
- Depression and isolation
- Defensiveness
- Aggressive hand gestures
- Changes in facial expression (nastier, dazed)
Sexual Violence
- The Importance of Consent
- Sexual Assault
- Domestic Violence
- Dating Violence
- Stalking
What is Consent?
Sexual activity requires consent, which is defined as voluntary,
positive agreement between the participants to engage in specific
sexual activity.
If you don't have consent, it is
sexual violence.
Consent to sexual activity can be communicated in a variety of ways,
but one should presume that consent has not been given in the absence
of clear, positive agreement.
While verbal consent is not an absolute requirement for consensual
sexual activity, verbal communication prior to engaging in sex helps to
clarify consent. Communicating verbally before engaging in sexual
activity is imperative. However potentially awkward it may seem,
talking about your own and your partner's sexual desires, needs, and
limitations provide a basis for a positive experience.
Consent must be clear and unambiguous for each participant at every
stage of a sexual encounter. The absence of "no" should not be
understood to mean there is consent. A prior relationship does not
indicate consent to future activity.
A person who is asleep or mentally or physically incapacitated,
either through the effect of drugs or alcohol or for any other reason,
is not capable of giving valid consent.
The use of alcohol or drugs may
seriously interfere with the participants' judgment about whether
consent has been sought and given.
Sexual Assault
Any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the
explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of
sexual assault are sex offenses such as forced sexual intercourse,
forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted
rape.
Sex Offenses - Forcible
Forcible sex offenses include any sexual act directed against
another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not
forcible or against that person’s will where the victim is incapable of
giving consent. These include:
- Forcible Rape
- Forcible Sodomy
- Sexual Assault with an Object
- Forcible Fondling
Sex Offenses - Non Forcible
Non-forcible sex offenses are any unlawful, non forcible sexual
intercourse such as:
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is the occurrence of one or more of the following
acts by a family or household member, but does not include acts if
self-defense: Attempting to cause or causing physical harm to another
family or household member; placing another family or household member
in fear of physical harm; causing another family or household member to
engage in involuntary sexual activity by force, threat of force, or
duress; committing one or more of the following crimes against another
family or household member: Arson of any grade, assault and battery of
any grade, burglary of any grade, criminal damage to property, homicide
of any grade, kidnapping of any grade, sex offense of any grade, any
offense involving stolen property, any weapon law violation, disorderly
conduct, stalking and criminal trespass of property.
Dating Violence
Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social
relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim is dating
violence. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined
based on a consideration of the following factors:
- the length of the relationship
- the type of relationship
- the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the
relationship
Stalking
Stalking is the intentional and repeated following or harassing of
another person that would cause a reasonable person to feel alarmed or
to suffer emotional distress. Stalking shall include but not be limited
to the intentional and repeated uninvited presence of the perpetrator
at another person's home, workplace, school, or any place which would
cause a reasonable person to be alarmed, or to suffer emotional
distress as a result of verbal or behaviorally implied threats of
death, bodily injury, sexual assault, kidnapping, or any other
statutory criminal act to himself or any member of his family or any
person with whom he is acquainted.
Predators
Predators are cowards and seek to manipulate the setting of the
attack to their advantage by:
- Surprise: Selecting victims who are distracted
- Seclusion: Avoiding being seen by possible witnesses
- Impairment: Selecting victims who are intoxicated or by drugging
their
victims
- Size: Selecting victims who are smaller
- Strength: Selecting victims who are weaker
Risk Reduction
Take away the assailant's advantages!
- Take away the surprise advantage.
- Be aware of your surroundings. Knowing where you are and who is
around you may help you to find a way to get out of a bad situation.
- Stay in well lighted areas
- Make note of all individuals, obstacles and exits within a 20
foot radius.
- Take away the seclusion advantage.
- Try to avoid isolated areas. It is more difficult to get help
if no one is around.
- Don't allow yourself to be isolated with someone you don’t
trust or someone you don’t know.
- Avoid walking alone
- Install an app on your cell phone that allows you to signal
for help easily and quickly (like the LSU Shield app described below.)
- Trust your instincts. If a situation or location feels unsafe
or uncomfortable, LEAVE!!!!
- Take away the impairment advantage.
- Limit your consumption of intoxicants to the point where your
can still defend yourself should the need arise. (A survey of students
at 171 institutions of higher education, alcohol was involved in 74% of
all sexual assaults. )
- At parties and other gatherings, get your own food and drinks,
watch how they are prepared and keep track of them. If you lose track
of your food or drink, discard it and get some more.
- Have a check in plan. Always make sure that a trusted friend or
relative knows where you are and where you are going and when to expect
to hear from you again.
- Take away the size and strength advantages.
- Take a self-defense course.
R.A.D.
The University Police Department conducts Rape Aggression Defense
(R.A.D) classes geared to female
faculty, staff, and students. The Rape Aggression Defense System: The
National Standard in Self Defense Education(tm) is a program of
realistic self-defense tactics and techniques for women. The
R.A.D.
System is a comprehensive, women-only
course that begins with
awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance, while
progressing on to the basics of hands-on defense training.
R.A.D. is not a Martial Arts program. Our courses are taught by
nationally certified R.A.D. Instructors and provide each student with a
workbook/reference manual. This manual outlines the entire Physical
Defense Program for reference and continuous personal growth, and is
the key to the free lifetime return and practice policy for R.A.D.
graduates. Please call the University Police Administrative phone
number at 568-8270 for more information.
Wellness Center
The LSUHSC-NO Wellness Center offers one hour and two hour
self-defense classes which are open to all faculty, staff and students.
These classes are scheduled on the basis of the level of interest.
These classes can also be given as a presentation at meetings of
student or other campus organizations. Please contact the Wellness
Center at 568-3700 or via email at wellness@lsuhsc.edu for more
information.
Bystander Intervention
A bystander is any person who is present during and a witness to an
event. Bystander intervention is an essential component in preventing
violence because it addresses harmful behaviors before they escalate.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY
SOMETHING!!
Watch out for your fellow employees and students.
- If you see someone who looks like they are in trouble, ask if
they are okay.
- If you have a concern about a friend’s actions, say something to
him or her.
Be respectful of yourself and others. Make sure any sexual act is OK
with your partner if you initiate.
Say something if someone says something offensive, derogatory, or
abusive, let them know that behavior is wrong and you don’t want to be
around it. Don’t laugh at racist, sexist, homophobic jokes. Challenge
your peers to be respectful.
Believe someone who discloses a sexual assault, abusive
relationship, or experience with stalking or cyber stalking.
Emergency Helping — General Strategies
- Emergency situations unfold quickly and often require immediate
helping responses.
- Carefully assess the entire situation/circumstances before making
any decisions or taking any action. Choose the most effective ways of
helping for that particular situation.
- Be sure to not make the situation escalate.
- Consider both indirect and direct ways to intervene:
- Indirect: You request that someone else take responsibility as
the primary helper (e.g., NOPD, University Police, Emergency Medical
Trained or EMT personnel, etc.)
- Direct: You take responsibility as the primary helper.
- Whatever response you choose, remember the following in an
emergency/crisis:
- Calm the person
- Gather information
- Look at options
- Provide support
- Know appropriate referrals
Remember: Safe! Early! Effective!
- Make safe choices; consider the level of risk in choosing an
action for intervening.
- Understand boundaries and limits — don’t
be a hero. Verbal fights can quickly turn into physical fights. It
is often better to WALK AWAY.
- Intervene early — before a problem becomes a crisis or disaster.
- Publicly state your commitment to helping. “I will do X.”
- Engage other bystanders — You do “Y.”
- Do not become enmeshed in the argument or confrontation.
- Look for the best exit strategies (getting out of the situation)
for those involved. (Think win-win)
- Be clear and direct with all of your requests.
- Assess personal exposure/liability when actions you know about
are criminal.
- If it is not safe or prudent for you to help directly, you can:
- It is better to speak up and find nothing is wrong than not to
speak up and let something bad happen that could have been prevented.
Reporting Crime or Emergencies
If you are involved in an emergency situation, are the victim of a
crime, or witness any criminal activity while on campus, you are urged
to notify the
LSUHSC-NO Police Department as soon as possible by dialing (504)
568-8999.
Off-campus crimes may be reported to the New Orleans Police
Department by dialing 911. Dispatchers are available at these
respective telephone numbers 24 hours a day to answer your call. In
response to a call, University Police will take the required action,
dispatching an officer or asking the victim to report to the University
Police office to file an incident report.
uTip
- Send a Text to University Police
uTip is a text messaging service designed to be used for true
emergencies and to report crimes, suspicious activities or people.
Additional
information about uTip can be found here.
With this App, you can summon emergency services by telephone
and submit non-emergency reports including pictures and videos and much
more. Additional information about the LSU Shield App can be found
here.
Non Emergency Reporting
To contact University Police with non-emergency information, please
call 568-8270, or send an online
message.
Responsible Employees
Responsible Employees
include any employee who:
- Has the authority to take action to address harassment
- Has the duty to report harassment or other types of misconduct to
appropriate officials
- Is someone a student could reasonably believe has this authority
or responsibility
When a responsible employee receives a report of violence the
employee must:
- Act immediately upon
receipt of of the report
- Collect the basic facts (the who, what, when, where)
- Report all relevant facts to the LSUHSC-NO Title IX Coordinator,
Dr. Joseph
Moerschbaecher,within 24 hours of receiving the complaint or
information.
- If the event is criminal or you think it may be criminal, contact
the LSUHSC Police Department
Confidential Advisors
A person trained in accordance with law and designated by the campus
who the student or employee can choose to have support and advise them
in accordance with law during the complaint process. The only employees
who can guarantee a student’s confidentiality regarding sexual assaults
or misconduct are the confidential advisors. The Campus Assistance
Program (CAP) counselor’s have been designated as the confidential
advisors for LSUHSC-NO.
Community Resources
Additional resources can be found on the Campus Health web page.
University Policies & Publications
LSUHSC-NO Policies
LSUHSC-NO Publications
Getting Help
From the LSUHSC-NO
website, click on the police
icon
located
at the bottom of the
homepage under “Events and Campus
Resources” to find more information, phone numbers, and other important
information regarding University Police.
Additional resources can be found on the Campus Health
Or, LSUHSC-NO's Title IX Coordinator:
- Joseph Moerschbaecher, PhD
- Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
- Phone:(504) 568‐4804