Campus Law Enforcement, 2011-12

• NCJ Number: 248028
• Author(s): Brian A. Reaves Ph.D.
• Date Published: January 2015
• Length: 27 pages
• Corporate Author: Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
• Publication Series: BJS Special Reports
• Publication Format: Document; Document (Online)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This report is part of the Campus Law Enforcement Series. The report was written by Brian A. Reaves, Ph.D. Elizabeth Davis verified the report. Lynne McConnell and Jill Thomas edited the report. Barbara Quinn and Tina Dorsey produced the report. The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable and valid statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and participates with national and international organizations to develop and recommend national standards for justice statistics.

Annotation

This Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Special Report presents findings from a survey of campus law enforcement agencies covering the 2011-2012 academic year.

Abstract

Presents findings from a BJS survey of campus law enforcement agencies covering the 2011-12 academic year. The report focuses primarily on 4-year colleges and universities enrolling 2,500 or more students. Agencies serving public and private campuses are compared by number and type of employees, agency functions, arrest jurisdiction, patrol coverage, agreements with local law enforcement, requirements for new officers, use of nonlethal weapons, types of computers and information systems, community policing initiatives, use of special units and programs, and emergency preparedness activities.

• About 75% of the campuses were using armed officers, compared to 68% during the 2004-05 school year.
• About 9 in 10 public campuses used sworn police officers (92%), compared to about 4 in 10 private campuses (38%).
• Most sworn campus police officers were authorized to use a sidearm (94%), chemical or pepper spray (94%), and a baton (93%).
• Most sworn campus police officers had arrest (86%) and patrol (81%) jurisdictions that extended beyond campus boundaries.
• About 7 in 10 campus law enforcement agencies had a memorandum of understanding or other formal written agreement with outside law enforcement agencies.