Recently, it’s been commonplace for students to open their inboxes each day and see a timely warning notification from the UW Police Department (UWPD). However, what students don’t know is that some crimes occuring in the area are not being reported via e-mail because of jurisdiction limits between the UWPD and Seattle Police Department (SPD).

“The notifications are required by federal law and are a means of alerting our students, staff and faculty of dangers that may confront them on or around campus,” said Ralph Robinson, UWPD assistant chief.

The law Robinson refers to is known as the Clery Act, which was enacted by Congress in 1990. It is named after Jeanne Clery, who in 1986 was sexually assaulted and murdered by another student in her dorm room at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University.

Her school had not informed students about 38 other violent crimes that had occured on campus in the three years prior to her murder. Since the the Clery Act, higher education institutions have been required to publish annual reports and make students aware of crimes that indicate an ongoing threat to students and employees.

At the UW, notifications are written by police officers assigned to the crime prevention section, or by on-call chiefs during non-working hours, Robinson explained.

The policy for reporting crimes applies to crimes that happen “on or adjacent to campus,” but no specific radius is defined. This explains why students are sometimes not notified of crimes that happen off-campus­ — for instance, the stabbing and shooting that occurred north of NE 50th Street on the Ave this past week.

The UWPD also relies on information from the SPD to send out the reports.

“In order for us to send out the timely notifications, we must be made aware of the crime,” said future UWPD Police Chief John Vinson, who will officially take on the position Feb. 23.

The SPD is not required to report any crimes to the UWPD, so unless the UWPD overhears a call, it is not always able to alert students, Vinson explained.

During the past week, at least three violent crimes occurred in the U-District, including a shooting at NE 55th Street and the Ave, an assault with a gun in the Greek community, and a stabbing at NE 50th and the Ave. UW students were notified of only one.

“We were not officially notified of those incidents,” Robinson said in response to the two that occurred on the Ave. “We would have put out a notification if we had been aware.”

Vinson expressed that he hopes to continue to work with the SPD closely to ensure that students are fully aware of all potential dangers on campus.

Reach contributing writer Margeaux Fox and news editor Casey Smith at news@dailyuw.com.