Draft TACIR report urges funding for campus emergency call‑recording and broader crime reporting

Commission staff presented a draft report on emergency communications and crime reporting for colleges and universities, prepared under direction from legislators concerned that some campus police calls are not recorded and therefore unavailable for later review.

The draft report notes that while most 911 calls answered by outside dispatchers are recorded and preserved, many campus police/security departments — particularly community colleges and some private institutions — do not record incoming calls. Staff said larger public universities reported initial call‑recording startup costs around $100,000 and annual licensing and upkeep ranging from about $8,000 to $27,500, but that many smaller schools would require less capacity and lower costs.

The commission staff recommended three actions: encourage institutions to record and retain calls to campus police by providing additional funding or assistance for call recording systems; provide clearer public reporting of Title IX and other misconduct statistics so parents and students can better assess campus safety; and ask the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to include reported crimes within a half‑mile of each campus in annual campus crime reports and require institutions to publish those figures on their websites.

Staff also noted that national surveys show many victims do not report violent crime to police and that incidents occurring off campus may not appear in federally required campus crime statistics, creating potential gaps in parents’ and students’ understanding of local safety risk.

The commission received the draft and invited feedback; no formal action was taken during the meeting.