Ashlyn Watkins case puts USC’s crime log in spotlight. Here’s how it works

The fallout from a recent allegedly violent incident involving a USC women’s basketball player had many around campus looking to the crime log kept by the university’s police department for details.

The University of South Carolina Police Department’s crime log provides information about campus incidents and crimes, such as the duration and location of an incident and whether a case has been closed or is still active.

“Our core values include transparency and accountability,” USC PD Captain Eric Grabski said. “We believe full-heartedly that within the law, we’re going to make sure that everything that needs and can and should be reported is.” 

Ashlyn Watkins was arrested and charged with kidnapping and assault and battery at 3 p.m. Aug. 31 after an overnight incident in a university apartment. The gap between when the incident was reported and when Watkins was arrested about 12 hours later had people scrambling for details. Another gap in when she was arrested and when the information appeared in the crime log four days – two business days – later also raised questions. The delay was due to the holiday weekend,  Grabski said.

“It happened last Saturday, then Monday was a holiday, so we would have until Wednesday to update that crime log,” he said.

USC PD is not unique in its use of a crime log. The Clery Act, enacted in 1990, requires all federally funded universities to keep a crime log and ensure its availability to the public. It also mandates universities update their crime logs within two business days of the crime being reported. The law is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education. Schools can face fines of almost $70,000 per violation of the act. 

While the time frame prevents incidents from being recorded in real time, Grabski said the window helps keep the crime log updated and accurate as cases develop. 

“There’s never been an instance where I’ve known that there’s been a problem with (late reporting) happening or any issues with uploading those incidents to the crime log when we need to.”

Watkins’ attorney, state Rep. Todd Rutherford, told WLTX-TV that once more information comes out about the incident, it will be clear that his client is innocent of the charges.

Grabski said keeping students safe and informed about crime incidents on campus can sometimes require collaboration with local police departments.

“We’ll get a report of something that happened within our jurisdiction from any of those folks, whether it’s an outside law enforcement agency or someone internally,” he said. “If it’s reported to us officially, then we’re going to note that in our crime log. It could go the other way, too. It could be an incident that happened off campus that we’re made aware of. And then we work with that other law enforcement agency to make sure it’s reported there.” 

Columbia Police Department spokesperson Jennifer Timmons said her department’s incident reporting procedures include information about crimes related to USC. 

“CPD provides information about CPD-related crimes to the public on a daily basis,” she wrote in an email to the Carolina News & Reporter. “That would include crimes that have a connection with the University of South Carolina.” 

Though she hasn’t used the crime log, USC freshman Ava Johnson was aware of USC PD’s efforts to keep students safe before she had even officially started classes. 

“They stress it a lot,” she said. “Every five feet you can see a blue emergency (call box). Especially during freshman orientation, they stressed it a lot.” 

Some students still feel more can be done. Senior Maddy Fessia sees room for improvement in security on the outskirts of campus. 

“McMaster (School of Visual Arts and Design) and that area (on Senate Street), I don’t want to walk around there at nighttime,” she said. “During the day I don’t really care. But nighttime towards that area, definitely not.”  

USC PD seeks to build a strong relationship with the student body through informative tools like the crime log and valuing student feedback, Grabski said. 

“We actively solicit that kind of information in other ways than what we might see in just posting a crime log, because it’s really important to us,” he said. “We want to know what the public feels about us. We want to know how students feel about our interactions. We want to know if students feel that we’re somehow not being transparent.” 

The crime log is available to the public on the Law Enforcement Division’s website and lists incidents from on and around campus over the past two months. Older crime logs can be accessed by contacting USC PD’s records office.