New Report Released on Crime and Safety in Schools and College Campuses

Overall, crime and safety issues have become less prevalent in the nation’s schools and college campuses throughout the last decade. Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2020, jointly produced by the National Center for Education Statistics at IES and the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice, highlights new data on victimization, bullying, school conditions, safety and security measures at school, and postsecondary campus safety and security. Key findings from the report include: Of students ages 12–18, lower percentages in 2019 than in 2009 reported any criminal victimization during the previous 6 months (2 vs. 4 percent), being bullied during the school year (22 vs. 28 percent), being called hate-related words (7 vs. 9 percent), and observing a gang presence (9 vs. 20 percent) at school. Similarly, of students in grades 9–12, lower percentages in 2019 than in 2009 reported having been in a physical fight on school property in the previous 12 months (8 vs. 11 percent) and carrying a weapon on school property during the previous 30 days (3 vs. 6 percent). Although victimization has decreased over time both at school and away from school, data collected from students ages 12–18 reveal that students experienced more nonfatal criminal victimization at school than away from school in 2019 (30 victimizations per 1,000 students at school, compared with 20 victimizations per 1,000 students away from school). Between 2009 and 2019, the percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported observing the use of one or more security cameras to monitor the school increased (from 70 to 86 percent), as did the percentage of students who reported observing the presence of security guards or assigned police officers (from 68 to 75 percent). The overall number of criminal incidents reported on postsecondary campuses was lower in 2018 than in 2009 (28,500 vs. 34,100 incidents). However, the number of reported forcible sex offenses on campus increased from 2,500 in 2009 to 12,300 in 2018 (a 383 percent increase). Forcible sex offenses constituted 43 percent of all criminal incidents reported on campus in 2018. In 2018, a total of 814 hate crimes were reported on the campuses of postsecondary institutions. Eighty percent of the total reported on-campus hate crimes in 2018 were motivated by race, sexual orientation, or religion.