CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS

 

Criminal Complaints:

Filing a criminal complaint is different from reporting an incident or filing a formal complaint at the university. A formal complaint is a request for the University to investigate an incident and take appropriate action(s).

• Persons wishing to file a criminal complaint (such as, but not limited to assault, sexual misconduct/assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking) will be directed to the WKU Police Department, which is primarily responsible for investigating and supervising criminal investigations of this nature on campus;

• An individual filing a criminal complaint is not foreclosed from also filing a formal university complaint;

• All criminal complaints will be investigated consistent with applicable legal requirements and customary law enforcement practices.

• Individuals filing a formal university complainant will be informed promptly of available support services, as well as legal and administrative options, if reasonably available, such as changes to housing assignments, in addition to academic and/or work schedules;

• Individuals filing a formal university complainant will be informed about the outcome of any investigation undertaken by the WKU Office of Student Conduct, within the guidelines of FERPA. 

• Western Kentucky University utilizes an emergency notification system, WKU Alert to communicate official information during an emergency or crisis situation that disrupts normal campus operations or threatens the immediate health or safety of members of the campus community.

It is the position of The Office of Student Conduct that among the violations of misconduct considered to be of an especially serious nature are those that represent a threat to the safety and health of members of the University Community. These include but are not limited too, harassment, physical violence or threat of violence, non-consensual sexual contact, rape or any form of sexual violence.